Russia Ukraine Update Thread - part 2

I see the Israelis and Russians kissed and made up in record time.

Cheers

Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine - Security Council, 9027th meeting (3 hours 9 mins long)

UN Secretary General and under secretary generals briefing the UN Security Council about Ukraine/Russia war. The US is the security council President for this month.

Russia seems to be on their own.

Russia 'on the Defensive' at U.N. Security Council as U.S. Takes Charge

The United States aims to continue Russia's isolation at the United Nations as it takes the reins at the top table of the global governing body this month.

Speaking at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. permanent representative, laid out a wide-ranging agenda that included two signature events: conflict and food security on May 19, and the impact of digital technology on political governance on May 23.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military offensive against Ukraine 10 weeks ago, developments at the U.N. have had little impact on events on the ground. But that hasn't stopped the west and others from rallying behind Ukraine, which has secured three major diplomatic victories, now all part of the historical record of the Russian invasion.

click link for article

originally posted by: F2d5thCavv2
a reply to: Xcathdra

Crimea has some odd geography in terms of how it connects to Ukraine. The Arabat Spit is narrow and very open terrain. Likewise, the Perekop Isthmus narrows down to a couple of bridges and narrow corridors. If a hurried retreat is tried through those corridors, there is potential for a bloodbath rivaling that of Falaise in 1944.

Cheers

If a bloodbath occurs Putin won't care, aside from complaining about losing territory.

T-3 days until Russian escalation.



The Russian Frigate ‘Admiral Makarov’ Might Be The Juiciest Target In The Black Sea

After the dramatic sinking of the missile-cruiser Moskva by a Ukrainian missile battery on April 14, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is down to just three major surface combatants. The best and most important of them might be the new missile-frigate Admiral Makarov.

And that makes the 409-foot Admiral Makarov perhaps the most valuable target for Ukrainian missile crews and drone operators. We don’t know exactly how of its best Neptune anti-ship missiles the Ukrainian navy has left or whether Kyiv’s TB-2 drones are hunting for the Russian frigate or her Black Sea sisters.

In any event, it’s apparent Russian fleet commanders appreciate the danger. There’s evidence Admiral Makarov’s skipper has been taking pains to keep her away from the Ukrainian coast.

Distance could help to protect Admiral Makarov. But that same distance precludes the frigate from actually doing her job, protecting the Black Sea Fleet’s other vessels from air- and missile-attack.

click link for article.



I found this humorous -

ironically—have everything to do with the current war. Throughout the Soviet era and for years after the USSR’s collapse, Russia acquired its big marine engines from Ukraine.

After Russia in 2014 invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula—including the port of Sevastopol where Admiral Makarov now is based—Kyiv barred certain exports to Russia, including the marine engines Russia requires for any fast, conventional vessel displacing more than 5,000 tons or so.

Talk about bad staff work... Nothing like Putin surrounding himself with the best and the brightest.

originally posted by: F2d5thCavv2
I see the Israelis and Russians kissed and made up in record time.

Cheers

That tends to happen when a bully controls when your neighbors are allowed to hurl thousands of missiles at your tiny country again.

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

I think more is going on, but it is kept well sub rosa.

Cheers

originally posted by: F2d5thCavv2
a reply to: PatriotGames4u

I think more is going on, but it is kept well sub rosa.

Cheers

Now I'm curious, can you provide a hint?

* - Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizka Oblast(10:31). Red Alert: aerial threat. Sirens sounding. Take cover now!

* - 'Almost 500 civilians' evacuated from Mariupol in continuing operation: Ukrainian presidency

* - Poltavska Oblast(09:36). Red Alert: aerial threat. Sirens sounding. Take cover now!

* - Kharkiv, Kharkivska Oblast, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizka Oblast, Dnipro, Dnipropetrovska Oblast(09:35). Red Alert: aerial threat. Sirens sounding. Take cover now!

* - Heavy battles near Severodonetsk

* - There's been a 30-minute phone call today between @POTUS and @OlafScholz, according to the @WhiteHouse

* - Explosions audible in Mykolaiv

* - Ukrainian military shot down 7 Orlan-10 drone over Donbas

* - Big fire in Kramatorsk after missile strike

* - UN Security Council session on Ukraine

* - U.S. has now sent more than 80 of 90 howitzer artillery batteries offered to Ukraine: Pentagon

* - 1 killed as result of Russian missile shelling in Lozova territorial community

* - Russian troops shelled Zahradovka, Zelenodolsk, Kniazevka, Trudolyubivka, Topolyne, Dobrianka, Velyka Kostromka. Ukrainian forces shot down Orlan drone at Kryvyi Rih frontline

* - Big explosion in Kramatorsk

* - Explosion reported near Sloviansk

* - Russian sniper killed a civilian in Makarove village of Zolochiv community

* - Reports of explosions at Melitopol' airbase

* - PM Johnson: We will provide more military and humanitarian support to Ukraine

* - Russian troops continue attacks on Azovstal

* - Forest is on fire near Lyman

As a reminder

Just so people know and understand. Information from war zones can become confusing as there will no doubt be info released from the players (on both sides) involved that might not necessarily be true.

As such take everything as a possibility and NOT as absolute truth.

The very first casualty in a war is the truth and all warfare is based on deception

Resources - Where most of the updates come from.
* - Flightradar24 - tracks flights worldwide
* - Live Ukraine control map 1 - updates on the ground
* - Ukraine Control Map 2
* - Ship radar
* - Military vessel tracker
* - Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
* - Stopfake - Site dedicated to countering Russian propaganda about Ukraine

Youtube resources -
* - Speak the Truth
* - War in Ukraine
* - Artur Rehi - Estonain soldier
* - Daily Report

Social media resources -
* - Twitter - Jomini of the West - Battlefield Maps

* - Dnipro, Dnipropetrovska Oblast(11:05). Red Alert: aerial threat. Sirens sounding. Take cover now!

* - Explosions reported in Mykolaiv

* - Fires as result of shelling in Kharkiv

* - The Kremlin: Putin and the Prime Minister of Israel discussed the Ukrainian situation after a row sparked by Lavrov's statements

* - Phone call between Steinmeier and @ZelenskyyUa - his spokesperson of Ukrainian President told @BILD „The sides agreed to leave the past behind to focus on the future cooperation

* - Lukashenka in Associated Press interview doubts that "Russian operation is going according to the plan"

* - Violent assault and shelling continues at Azovstal

* - Defense Forces of Ukraine move to counteroffensive in Kharkiv and Izyum directions - Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Valery Zaluzhny

* - Missile shot down today over Romny district of Sumy region

* - 1 killed,2 wounded as result of shelling at Kharkiv Ecopark zoo

* - Zaporizhzhia power plant in Enerhodar stopped working due to lack of coal

* - Missile shelling at Lozovska territorial community

* - Kazakhstan has declined to send troops to Ukraine.

As a reminder

Just so people know and understand. Information from war zones can become confusing as there will no doubt be info released from the players (on both sides) involved that might not necessarily be true.

As such take everything as a possibility and NOT as absolute truth.

The very first casualty in a war is the truth and all warfare is based on deception

Resources - Where most of the updates come from.
* - Flightradar24 - tracks flights worldwide
* - Live Ukraine control map 1 - updates on the ground
* - Ukraine Control Map 2
* - Ship radar
* - Military vessel tracker
* - Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
* - Stopfake - Site dedicated to countering Russian propaganda about Ukraine

Youtube resources -
* - Speak the Truth
* - War in Ukraine
* - Artur Rehi - Estonain soldier
* - Daily Report

Social media resources -
* - Twitter - Jomini of the West - Battlefield Maps

* - Video shows Russian ‘filtration camp,’ Mariupol mayor’s office says

Video released by the office of the Mariupol mayor on Thursday claimed to show the inside of a Russian “filtration camp.”

The three clips — released on Telegram — were filmed inside a school in the Ukrainian village of Bezimenne, east of Mariupol, according to geolocation by The Washington Post. The school is on the coast of the Sea of Azov, which is briefly shown in one of the videos.

Men forcibly taken from Mariupol “were placed in the school in Bezimenne village,” according to the accompanying Telegram post, and denied medical assistance. Russian soldiers frequently threaten the detainees with torture and executions, it continued.

The mayor’s office also said people were forbidden from bringing personal belongings and their identification papers were confiscated. Instead, they received “filtration” papers, officials said.

In the video, people sleep in classrooms on top of desks. In a gym, three rows of sleeping pads are arranged on the floor. An off-camera voice, walking down a hallway, describes the stench. “A single sink for the whole crowd,” he says. “The toilet, where you can’t step in because it hurts the eyes there, is outside.”

click link for article

originally posted by: F2d5thCavv2
a reply to: Xcathdra

The Ukrainians fought dirty.

After the Russians threw their grenades, the Ukrainians pulled the pins and threw the grenades back.

Dam' NATO training.

Cheers

You're gonna LOVE the beginning of the latest Artur Rehi - Estonain Soldier video.

Drones and grenades.

Russian vehicles with sunroofs.

Need I say more?

Well, this can't be good for Putin...


How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain

RIGA, Latvia — When Russian authorities blocked hundreds of Internet sites in March, Konstantin decided to act. The 52-year-old company manager in Moscow tore a hole in the Digital Iron Curtain, which had been erected to control the narrative of the Ukraine war, with a tool that lets him surf blocked sites and eyeball taboo news.

Konstantin turned to a virtual private network, an encrypted digital tunnel more commonly known as a VPN. Since the war began in February, VPNs have been downloaded in Russia by the hundreds of thousands a day — a massive surge in demand that represents a direct challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to seal Russians off from the wider world. By protecting the locations and identities of users, VPNs are now granting millions of Russians access to blocked material.

Downloading one in his Moscow apartment, Konstantin said, brought back memories of the 1980s in the Soviet Union — when he used a shortwave radio to hear forbidden news of dissident arrests on U.S.-funded Radio Liberty.

“We didn’t know what was going on around us, and that’s true again now,” said Konstantin, who, like other Russian VPN users, spoke on the condition that his last name be withheld for fear of government retribution. “Many people in Russia simply watch TV and eat whatever the government is feeding them. I wanted to find out what was really happening.”

Daily downloads in Russia of the 10 most popular VPNs jumped from below 15,000 just before the war to as many as 475,000 in March. As of this week, downloads were continuing at a rate of nearly 300,000 a day, according to data compiled for the Washington Post by the analytics firm Apptopia, which relies on information from apps, publicly available data and an algorithm to come up with estimates.

Russian clients typically download multiple VPNs, but the data suggests millions of new users per month. In early April, Russian telecom operator Yota reported that the number of VPN users was 53.5 times as high as in January, according to the Tass state news service.

click link for article

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Sent you a PM.

Cheers

Not an "official" confirmation, but it comes from a Ukranian politician from the Odesa area...

Waiting for official confirmation! According to preliminary information, the Russian newest missile frigate "Admiral Makarov" was hit by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile "Neptune". The ship is badly damaged but remains afloat. Source: deputy Oleksii Honcharenko.

twitter.com...

originally posted by: WeDemBoyz
Not an "official" confirmation, but it comes from a Ukranian politician from the Odesa area...

Waiting for official confirmation! According to preliminary information, the Russian newest missile frigate "Admiral Makarov" was hit by a Ukrainian anti-ship missile "Neptune". The ship is badly damaged but remains afloat. Source: deputy Oleksii Honcharenko.

twitter.com...

www.kyivpost.com...


Still 'unconfirmed', but Ukrainian press is now openly reporting it!

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

and this...

Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate of the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet is reportedly on fire near Zmiiny island in Black Sea. Rescue operation ongoing, multiple aircraft, rescue vessels in the area

twitter.com...

originally posted by: WeDemBoyz
a reply to: PatriotGames4u

and this...

Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate of the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet is reportedly on fire near Zmiiny island in Black Sea. Rescue operation ongoing, multiple aircraft, rescue vessels in the area

twitter.com...

It sure looks like the loss of makarov is going to be 'officially confirmed' soon.

I've seen enough, makarov was knocked out of the war and possibly sunk.

By a country with no navy.




Will russia now send a 3rd ship into the Neptune kill box?

I'm surprised they sent a 2nd.

alleged first photos of the ship on fire, taken from shore are shown on this twitter link: twitter.com...

a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Seriously, if it's confirmed that is mind blowing. Not even sabotage while in port or something but hit and potentially sunk by a navyless country.

Damn ain't tech beautiful.

originally posted by: GAOTU789
a reply to: PatriotGames4u

Seriously, if it's confirmed that is mind blowing. Not even sabotage while in port or something but hit and potentially sunk by a navyless country.

Damn ain't tech beautiful.

I'm not so sure it was sunk, but seems pretty likely now that it was damaged after at least one Neptune strike.

No stormy weather assisting this time either.

This is/was one of russia's few good remaining air defense ships after the loss of Moskva.

From fox:

Germany plans to send seven self-propelled howitzers in the coming weeks that can hit targets 25 miles away to Ukraine after it reversed a policy against supplying heavy artillery in battle, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Friday, according to report.

Germans will be training a group of Ukrainian soldiers, who have experience with Soviet-made howitzers, starting next week in Germany, Reuters reported.

The Netherlands also plans to send five howitzers. 

Anyone else noticing a pattern here?