Ukraine Invasion: Part 45

[MagicFox]

Thanks to all: contributors, lurkers and those in-between

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Live: Ukraine Telegram

The agriculture ministers of the Visegrad Group, which includes Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, said that Ukraine's withdrawal of its complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the grain embargo would improve the atmosphere in their relations.

Ukraine offers Western allies to launch missile strikes on Shahed UAV production plants in Iran, Syria, and a potential production facility in Russia, The Guardian reports.
The above can be carried out by the Ukrainian defense forces if the partners provide the necessary means of destruction.

Iran may agree with Russia to transfer missiles after the expiration of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits such agreements, October 18 - ISW.
Ukrainian and Israeli intelligence reports indicate that Russia is seeking to acquire Iranian Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles, both with a range of 300 kilometers or more.

🇩🇪 The German Prosecutor's Office is investigating https://www.tagesschau.de/newsticker/liveblog-ukraine-mittwoch-288.html?fbclid=IwAR182jHWCoO4EL2jgemaR3LZPCfUqg44-ouGrzqXWsFXUwEc7ET0C9CmSAo a war crime committed by the Russian military in Hostomel, where a German citizen was injured.
It is a case of Russian soldiers opening fire on civilians, causing them to be injured.

🇷🇴 Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu explained why Bucharest did not respond to the grain crisis like Poland.
"I am one of those who believe that Ukraine should be helped until the war is over. Our assistance is to help this grain transit. You saw that I did not react the same way as Poland. I also had institutional discussions with the Romanian president on this issue, and we both came to the same opinion," Ciolacu said.
According to him, through a dialogue with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, "we found a licensing system... to protect farmers."

The Pentagon and the U.S. State Department disagree on the provision of certain weapons for Ukraine, Politico reports, citing an unnamed official.
"The State Department looks at opportunities, while the Defense Ministry looks at threats. Pentagon officials say they have to weigh the pros and cons of every arms decision, and that the responsibility for that lies with them," the official explained.
The article says that the ATACMS missiles that Biden agreed to send to Ukraine last week are a recent example of this, as the Pentagon initially resisted their transfer.

Russian cybersports players Daniil "Putrick" Abdrakhmanov and Egor "Swizzy" Lucico won $200,000 at the Fortnite championship. However, Epic Games refused to pay the prize money because of the Russian citizenship of the players.
According to them, they were playing from Belarus and their bank accounts were registered in Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, Epic Games, the organizer of the tournament, refused to pay the prize money and disqualified Abdrakhmanov from the FNCS tournament in Copenhagen. The players tried to appeal the decision and sent a request to Epic Games, but they received a refusal with the wording that they come from "a region with limited access to prizes."

Russians have dropped bombs on the Avdiivka Coke Plant in Donetsk region, MP Musa Magomedov reports.

How does nature help Ukraine win?
Here are some maps that explain the geographical features that favor the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russian officials have photoshopped a photo of a (almost) dead soldier being awarded.

Russian soldier Artur Sultangaliev died the day before yesterday. He had been seriously wounded the day before, and in order to give positive news (not just an obituary), the regional military commissariat photoshopped a photo of his award and spread the news in local newspapers and administration press releases.

Bakhmut, now.

Just placemarking. Thanks for the new thread

Checking in.💙💛

Thanks for the new thread

@Natsku can you copy your last post onto this new thread? I found it so insightful as to how many Russian men could be perceived at home and how we cannot rely on Russian women to advocate for their men to be returned home.

OK

In fact, for many of Russian women life becomes better with their men gone

Makes sense why they wouldn't be keen on opposing the war then, if it gets them a break, possibly permanent, from abusive men

Fascinating article on how Putin is retaining power among Russians.

https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/90543

@MagicFox just an idea - would it be helpful to link the last thread at the start of the new thread?

Kyiv Independent Telegram

⚡️Energy Ministry: IAEA demands https://kyivindependent.com/energy-ministry-iaea-demands-russia-to-immediately-leave-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant/Russia immediately leave Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference has adopted a resolution on the immediate return of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant under Ukraine's full control, the Energy Ministry reported on Sept. 29.
The document calls on Russia to immediately withdraw all military and other unauthorized personnel from the plant's territory to ensure its safe and secure operation, according to the report. [Wonder if this is after yesterday's report commissioned by Greenpeace. Im dubious about Greenpeace but the actual company that put the report together is apparently reputable]

⚡️ Zelensky meets Stoltenberg, French defense minister https://kyivindependent.com/stoltenberg-french-defense-minister-visit-kyiv-for-talks/ in Kyiv.

⚡️ EU threatens new drone component bans https://kyivindependent.com/eu-threatens-sales-ban-on-components-used-in-russian-drones/ to countries still re-exporting to Russia, Iran.
The European Commission has warned Western firms and governments it could ban the export of certain components to some third-party countries from where Russia and Iran source drone parts, the Guardian reported on Sept. 28.

⚡️US State Department: American weapons https://kyivindependent.com/state-department-american-weapons-are-used-properly-by-ukraine/ are used properly by Ukraine.
Weapons that Ukraine receives to counter Russian aggression are used properly, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing on Sept. 28. There were no cases of the weaponry falling into the wrong hands.

⚡️Putin asks former Wagner commander https://kyivindependent.com/putin-asks-former-wagner-commander-to-oversee-volunteer-units-for-ukraine-war/ Andrei Troshev to form 'volunteer units" for the war in Ukraine, according to a transcript of Putin's speech published by the Kremlin on Sept. 29.

⚡️ Kazakhstan confirms intent to comply with sanctions against Russia kyivindependent.com/president-kazakhstan-to-comply-with-sanctions-against-russia/
the country's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at a press briefing on Sept. 28 after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

⚡️ EU extends protection for Ukrainian refugees until 2025.
https://kyivindependent.com/eu-extends-protection-for-ukrainian-refugees-until-2025/ The Council of the EU extended temporary protection for over 4 million Ukrainian refugees living on the territory of the member countries from March 4, 2024, to March 4, 2025, the Council announced on Sept. 28.

⚡️Ukraine to serve on IAEA Board of Governors kyivindependent.com/ukraine-among-11-countries-to-serve-on-iaea-board-of-governors/
Ukraine has been elected to serve on the Board of Governors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to the UN nuclear watchdog's statement posted on Sept. 28.
Among the newly elected members are Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain, and Ukraine.

⚡️Oil prices slide https://kyivindependent.com/oil-prices-slide-as-russia-saudi-arabia-plan-supply-boost/ as Russia, Saudi Arabia plan supply boost.

⚡️Sweden provides 25 million euros https://kyivindependent.com/sweden-provides-25-million-euros-and-1-000-tons-of-equipment-to-the-energy-support-fund-of-ukraine/ to support Ukraine's energy system.

⚡️ The Hill: Republicans remove Ukraine funding from US defense spending bill.
https://kyivindependent.com/republicans-remove-ukraine-funding-from-us-defense-spending-bill/ House Republicans in U.S. Congress voted to strip $300 million in Ukraine aid from their defense spending bill in an effort to secure votes from their hardline members, The Hill reported on Sept. 28.

⚡️https://kyivindependent.com/pentagon-government-shutdown-to-affect-f-16-training-for-ukraininas/ The expected U.S. government shutdown would affect the training program for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, European Pravda reported on Sept. 28, citing Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.

⚡️ Germany greenlights joint Rheinmetall-Ukraine venture in Kyiv. This new enterprise will provide "maintenance, assembly, production, and development of military vehicles" and initially operate exclusively on the territory of Ukraine, the German Federal Cartel Office said. https://kyivindependent.com/germany-greenlights-joint-rheinmetall-ukraine-arms-factory-in-kyiv/

⚡️Reuters: Rebeca Grynspan, who leads the U.N. implementation of the grain deal with Russia says https://kyivindependent.com/reuters-un-trade-chief-says-ukraines-grain-corridor-is-a-positive-step-but-not-a-lasting-solution/ Ukraine's grain corridor is positive step but not lasting solution.

Investigative Stories from Ukraine: Notorious pro-Russia MP tied to investment fund building homes in Ukraine https://t.me/KyivIndependentofficial/24091

⚡️Navalny transferred https://kyivindependent.com/navalny/ to single-cell room for a year as appeal rejected. Navalny described the new cell he was to be held in as "the strictest possible punishment in all kinds of prisons."

⚡️Russian attacks kill 6, injure 13 https://kyivindependent.com/russian-attacks-kill-6-injure-13-in-ukraine-over-past-24-hours/ in Ukraine over past 24 hours.

Abducting the future: How Ukrainian parents fight to rescue their children from Russia https://kyivindependent.com/abducting-the-future-how-ukrainian-parents-fight-to-rescue-their-children-from-russia/
The camp in Moscow Oblast where his three children were kept looked more like a "custodial facility" than a recreational site for children, with "big fences everywhere, serious security, and an electronic access system," says Yevhen Mezhevyi.
Russian social workers had told the kids that since their time at the camp was ending and they could not be returned to Donetsk Oblast due to the fighting there, they would be taken to an orphanage or to a foster family in Russia.
"(Matvii) told me I had five days to rescue them," Mezhevyi said.

The IAEA call is significant - throwing down on the side of Ukraine.

It's also very significant that the US states that the weopons supplied to Ukraine are not being stolen and sold on.

If Qazakhstan is serious about stopping sanctions-busting, that'd be great. Turkey and Qazakhstan are two major routes.

UNITED24 Media Telegram

❗️ Russia strikes Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant today.
The plant is a key producer of metallurgical coke, accounting for up to 23% of Ukraine's production.

🇭🇺 Hungary became the first EU country to present Lukashenko with a letter of credence after 2020. This is the last procedural step before the Hungarian ambassador can begin her work in Minsk.
"Hungary is a long-standing and reliable friend of Belarus," said Alexander Lukashenko.

The West plans to increase weapons production in Ukraine, according to The New York Times
This is related to the unexpected visit to Kyiv yesterday by the NATO Secretary General and the defense ministers of the United Kingdom and France. "For Ukrainian companies, this will be an important opportunity to establish new partnerships with the industry within the alliance and beyond," Stoltenberg said. "The stronger Ukraine becomes, the closer we are to ending Russia's aggression."

❗️ Russian special services were behind the 2014 explosions at the military warehouses in Czechia, where weapons meant to be delivered to Ukraine were stored, finds a joint State Bureau of Investigation and Security Service of Ukraine investigation.
A joint investigation with Czech law enforcement officials found that it was Russian saboteurs who blew up military warehouses. Myshkin and Chepiga, already known for their attempt to poison the Skripals, played a role in this sabotage operation", states the SBI report.
According to the investigation, Russian special operations forces were also involved in the 2015 explosions in Svatove, Luhansk region, where a significant amount of military equipment, missiles, and ammunition was destroyed.

Pale and frail, but unbroken. Photos that surfaced in Russian media show Ukrainian soldiers standing trial in Rostov-na-Donu, Russia. Among the 22 soldiers who were taken prisoner during the siege of Mariupol are eight women.
According to reports, Moscow can be holding captivity at least 700 soldiers who defended the Azovstal steel mill in the early months of the war.

Live: Ukraine Telegram

What Ukrainians think about Zelensky now [September 2023]
This street interview reflects the opinion of Ukrainian citizens about President Volodymyr Zelensky. How is his leadership currently perceived in Ukrainian society? Which opinion prevails?
Join us to find out what real Ukrainians think. https://www.youtube.com/@liveukraine_media/videos

❗️Russian troops jam GPS communications in Romania's territorial waters.
The chief of defense staff of the country's armed forces said that the limited communication could lead to ship collisions and "incidents" on the NATO border - combat missiles or drones could miss and hit targets in Romania or its waters.

Ukrainian pilots and fighter jet maintenance technicians have begun language training at an air base in Texas to learn how to fly the F-16, the Pentagon said.
After completing the courses, the actual F-16 training will begin. This will take place at Morris Air Force Base of the US National Guard in Arizona.

At night, a group of drones attacked the Kursk region of Russia. They dropped explosives on a substation, causing a power outage in five settlements and a hospital. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that 11 drones were shot down.

The Russia 1 TV channel told about the development of the Kaliningrad region.
And illustrated the story with shots of a beautiful, obviously actively developing city.
The footage does not show Kaliningrad. And not Russia at all.
This is Poland, the city of Elbląg.

New photos of the headquarters building of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol

<brew>

yes please, good idea

Just reposting something MMBaranova put at the end of the last thread, as I think it's important and shouldn't be missed:

MMBaranova · 27/09/2023 19:17
On Russians and death.

Anton Gerashchenko on X: "I sometimes see Westerners saying that the more human losses Russia sustains, the more injured and traumatized Russians return back home, the sooner public opinion will change and Russians will start opposing the war. Many Ukrainians, including myself, have thought so, too, in…" / X (twitter.com)

First half:

I sometimes see Westerners saying that the more human losses Russia sustains, the more injured and traumatized Russians return back home, the sooner public opinion will change and Russians will start opposing the war.

Many Ukrainians, including myself, have thought so, too, in the first months of the war. We addressed Russian mothers, Russian women, told them that their sons and husbands will be killed or maimed. We got very little feedback and virtually no results.

For the Russians these dead soldiers are "heroes who protected the Motherland". And Russians choose to see them this way, empowered by propaganda and ideology - Russia is very good at hero-izing the dead. They refuse to realize that it was their country that invaded another state, their country that kills, loots, rapes and injures civilians in Ukraine; that these Russian soldiers are murderers and villains. In fact, for many of Russian women life becomes better with their men gone - a lot of them had drinking problems, abused their families, did not work proper jobs. Usually the people who get mobilized or sign contracts with the Russian army are from specific social circles - the educated middle class (a broad generalization) is not keen to go to war. Usually it's poorer men from distant villages who are in the trenches. So now these women can live freely and get a substantial amount of money from the government, living with a glossed over memory of their son, husband or father. In a way, that reassures them that Russia is doing everything right. And as Russia has over 140 million people, it has a virtually endless resource of cannon fodder.
https://twitter.com/Gerashchenkoen/status/1707029104300577114

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-28-2023

Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on September 28.
• Russian forces have reduced the tempo of their localized offensive operations on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line in recent days.
• Russian aviation is increasingly active in Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts and apparently less active in areas of western Zaporizhia Oblast where Ukrainian forces are conducting counteroffensive operations.
• Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine on the night of September 27 to 28.
• Several Russian milbloggers claimed that they self-censor the majority of their reporting amidst an apparent wider self-censorship in Russian reporting about the tactical realities on certain sectors of the front.
• The Russian State Duma adopted a bill in its first reading that criminalizes promoting and justifying extremism, likely to encourage self-censorship in the Russian information space.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled his support for Chechen Republic Head Ramzan Kadyrov during a meeting on September 28 amid continued speculations about Kadyrov’s health and public backlash against the recent behavior of Kadyrov’s son.
• The Russian information space continued to criticize Armenian leadership and lament Russia’s perceived decreased influence in Armenia.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast and did not make confirmed gains.
• Russian sources stated that the Russian Aerospace (VKS) Forces received a new batch of fifth-generation Su-57 stealth fighter and fourth-generation Su-35S air defense fighter aircraft on September 28.
• Ukrainian Mariupol Mayoral Advisor Petro Andryushchenko stated on September 28 that Ukrainian partisans set fire to a Russian military facility in occupied Yalta, Donetsk Oblast (21km southwest of Mariupol).

@DancesWithDucks can do!

Thank you for new thread

Thank you for the new thread. I missed the link and was wondering why the last one had gone quiet.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-29-2023

Key Takeaways:

• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in western Zaporizhia Oblast and in the Bakhmut area on September 29.
• The Russian government announced details about the semi-annual conscription cycle set to begin on October 1 in most of Russia, reportedly including the illegally annexed territories in Ukraine.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and former Wagner Group commander and current Ministry of Defense (MoD) employee Andrey Troshev on September 29 signaling that Putin will likely back the MoD in its apparent competing effort with the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) to recruit current and former Wagner personnel.
• The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is likely supporting amendments to a Russian State Duma bill that would expand its tools of digital authoritarianism to surveil users of Russian internet, banking, and telecom companies. [ eh, they weren't already? I suppose this could make it easier to do it en masse]
• The apparent self-censorship in the wider Russian information space has likely opened the door for some fringe elements to directly criticize and speculate about senior Russian military commanders without pushback.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast and advanced in some areas on September 29.
• Russia may be continuing attempts to circumvent sanctions through military-technical cooperation with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries.
• Russia is relaxing passport controls on Ukrainian citizens leaving and entering Russia likely in an attempt to simplify the movement of Ukrainian citizens to Russia.

Getting worried for a minute there...

Kyiv Independent Telegram

⚡️General CQ Brown succeeds https://kyivindependent.com/general-cq-brown-succeeds-mark-milley-as-us-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs/ Mark Milley as US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. [@MissConductUS do you know much about him? is he effective and pro-Ukraine?]

⚡️Romania investigates https://kyivindependent.com/romania-investigating-another-possible-russian-airspace-violation-bombing-threat-to-civilians-on-danube/ another possible airspace violation by Russia.
The ministry reported that, as Russia was attacking Ukraine's ports on the Danube river, air alert sirens were activated in the nearby Romanian cities of Tulcea and Galati as radar systems detected an unsanctioned object heading towards the latter in Romania's airspace.

⚡️New round of Russian conscription (130,000 between Sept and October] will include https://kyivindependent.com/new-round-of-russian-conscription-will-include-ukraines-occupied-territories/ Ukraine's occupied territories.

⚡️Media: Ukrainian strike destroys https://kyivindependent.com/media-ukrainian-strike-destroys-radar-station-in-russias-kursk-region/ radar station in Russia's Kursk region. "The Russians have said that it (the system) can detect even stealth aircraft, but it missed the SBU drone for some reason. The peculiarity of this radar system was the ability to identify aerial targets at extremely low altitudes," the media outlet's source said.

Russia is covering Ukraine with landmines. Clearing them will be extremely difficult
https://kyivindependent.com/russias-landmines-are-highly-advanced-and-increasingly-difficult-to-clear/
Approximately 30% of Ukraine — an area twice the size of Austria — has been contaminated with mines as a result of Russian aggression.
Russia has used advanced mine-laying systems to quickly create minefields all over the country that are nearly impossible to clear in the midst of hostilities.
Further complicating humanitarian mine-clearing efforts is the sheer variety of mines that Russia is using.

⚡️Official: Electricity cut-offs follow 'powerful' explosion in Berdiansk.
A "powerful" explosion was heard in Russian-occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on the afternoon of Sept. 29, reported Viktoriia Halitsina, head of the city military administration.

⚡️Armenia sues https://kyivindependent.com/armenia-sues-azerbaijan-in-international-court-of-justice/ Azerbaijan in International Court of Justice.

⚡️Gazprom reports gas production drop of 25% kyivindependent.com/gazprom-reports-gas-production-drop-of-25/
The state-owned Russian energy company Gazprom has released figures showing that its gas production fell by 25%, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Sept. 28.
The reporting period compares the first half of 2023 with the first half of 2022.

️Norway restricts entry https://kyivindependent.com/norway-restricts-entry-to-russian-cars/ to Russian cars.
Russian-registered cars with nine or fewer seats will not be able to enter Norway from midnight on Oct. 2, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry announced on Sept. 29.

⚡️https://kyivindependent.com/reuters-romania-moves-air-defense-systems-to-border-with-ukraine/
Romania is moving its air defense systems closer to its border with Ukraine, Reuters reported on Sept. 29. Additional measures include the deployment of four U.S. F-16 jets and an expanded no-fly zone.

⚡️Dozens of international firms join Kyiv's new defense industry alliance kyivindependent.com/dozens-of-international-firms-join-kyivs-new-defense-industry-alliance/

⚡️Deputy Economy Minister: Ukraine aims to reach pre-war levels of growth https://kyivindependent.com/deputy-economy-minister-ukraine-aim-to-reach-pre-war-levels-of-growth-in-4-years/ in 4 years.

⚡️Ukraine removes companies from 'international sponsor of war https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-removes-companies-from-international-sponsor-of-war-list-as-part-of-military-aid-negotiations/ list as part of military aid negotiations.
The NACP hopes that this will "lead to Hungary’s unblocking of €500 million of vital EU military aid for the Ukrainian people, and will also eliminate the possibility of Greece blocking the future EU sanctions package aimed at reducing Russia’s ability to continue the war."

⚡️Ukraine names suspects https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-names-suspects-for-sabotage-at-military-warehouses-in-luhansk-oblast-czechia/ for sabotage at military warehouses in Luhansk Oblast, Czech Republic. The suspects include Alexander Mishkin and Anatoly Chepiga, accused of poisoning the Skripal family in the English city of Salisbury in 2018 with Novichok.

⚡️Russians to compete as neutral athletes at 2024 Paralympics https://kyivindependent.com/ipc-votes-to-allow-russian-athletes-to-compete-at-2024-paralympics/
Russian athletes will be able to compete as individual or neutral athletes at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, the International Paralympic Committee announced on Sept. 29. [Fucking ace. People who are disabled in the war having to face Russian athletes?]

⚡️Putin declares https://kyivindependent.com/putin-declares-holiday-commemorating-occupation-of-ukrainian-regions/ holiday commemorating occupation of Ukrainian regions.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree marking Sept. 30 as a "reunification day" commemorating Russia's illegal annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, the Russian news outlet Interfax reported on Sept. 28. [No words bad enough here]

⚡️Ukrainian refugee children in EU face https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-refugee-children-in-eu-face-perpetual-uncertainty/ 'perpetual uncertainty'.
Children who fled Ukraine for EU countries following Russia's all-out war struggle with language barriers, disrupted education, and psychological trauma, the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) reported on Sept. 29.

Svitlana Romanko, a Founder and Director of Razom We Stand: UN climate summit offers chance to confront Russian fossil fuels, climate crisis

⚡️UK sanctions Russians involved in organizing sham elections https://kyivindependent.com/uk-sanctions-russian-officials-involved-in-organizing-sham-elections-in-ukraine/ in occupied parts of Ukraine.

Ragnar Gudmundsson

WAR IN #UKRAINE - SEP 30
■ 2nd most engagements of Sep,strikes
■ Troop & equipment losses above 7-day average
■ Artillery, APVs & MLRS above average
■ 7-day artillery at record level
■ Oryx: 24:19 Ru:Ukr listed (16:2 net change)

About the old thread going quiet? Sadly these threads are still going and will be awhile.

Approximately 30% of Ukraine — an area twice the size of Austria — has been contaminated with mines as a result of Russian aggression.
Russia has used advanced mine-laying systems to quickly create minefields all over the country that are nearly impossible to clear in the midst of hostilities.

If reports of Russia wishing to establish a new empire across eastern Europe are true, this is a clumsy strategy. It essentially also limits where you can go and what you can do with the land you have taken.

I think they switched some time ago, from trying to take over Ukraine, to destroying what's left.