🔥 The fire at the oil depot in Feodosia in occupied Crimea continues.
The ruzzians have announced a state of "man-made emergency" in the city.
The oil depot that was hit by Ukrainian drones is the JSC Marine Oil Terminal, which is the largest in Crimea in terms of oil product transshipment volumes. The volume of its storage tanks is 250 thousand cubic meters. There are only two such terminals on the peninsula occupied by Russia. The second is located in Sevastopol.
The attacked terminal is located on the eastern edge of Feodosia, near the village of Beregovoe. It was previously already attacked by Ukrainian drones in March 2024. At that time, the main pipeline for pumping fuel was damaged. The same terminal was attacked in December and November last year.
The southwestern and southern section of the salient continues to show Russian gains but much of the salient has gone quiet and the action in the southwest is less intense.
Several areas to the south have heavy fighting but it’s slowed. Post Vuhledar things have also slowed down.
The weather has remained warm and dry so there is no reason other than exhaustion, manpower issues and ammo shortages, that the Russians are complaining about, for things to have wound down.
Unquestionably the attacks in the ammo depots have been incredibly damaging - but the Russians will recover from it. However it might just have provided the breather for Ukraine to pull itself together after months of non-stop pressure and retreat. Slowing down the Russians after such a long run of forward movement is a big deal.
‘The Analyst’ MilStratOnX
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
MILITARY & STRATEGIC:
1/2 FRONTLINE UPDATE
The situation in Kursk is difficult to ascertain. The areas directly controlled by either side are reasonably clear - and Ukraine has lost a lot of ground around the entire front. However the grey zone is in places as much as 1-10km deep.
What this indicates is that both sides are quite mobile and there’s a lot of overlap in where they are fighting - there’s no fixed frontline nor the forces available to create one on either side.
At Vovchansk the Ukrainians have successfully driven the Russians in the east of the town almost completely out, and they’re having a hard time holding the ground they have left.
Fighting has largely slowed until you get to Chasiv Yar which has remained oddly static for weeks now, the Russians preferring to focus on the Pokrovsk salient.
However the Ukrainians had quite the success there in the last couple of days.
A significant Russian attack was stymied on the southern flank because Ukrainians managed to isolate and kill the force commander - Russian C2 isn’t good without its central direction and there’s rarely anyone who can jump in and take control if a commander dies, it’s just not how they do things. A western commander would have at least one and
as many as three junior officers all knowing who was next in line and what the plan was.
The Russians focused on the southern flank because it’s an easier target. Get through the forest and create a spike attack towards Stopochky, in turn giving them leverage to attack Chasiv Yar from the south, avoiding a costly east-west assault through heavy defences.
The Russians have smothered the area in front of Chasiv Yar, occupied Bakhmut and Ivaniske with EW systems - severely impairing Ukrainian drone operations and allowing them the benefit of being able to congregate quickly using metalled roads rather than cross country. So they quickly assembled a sizeable strike force.
During the night the Russians used the forest which is heavily wooded still and not yet blown to matchwood, and got over the canal tunnel, behind Ukrainian lines.
As soon as the Russians were detected the Ukrainians quickly and quietly cut them off in the forest and hammered them with
drones and ground assault troops. Meanwhile second group prepared a counter assault from the south to cut in and behind the Russian lines. The death of the Russian commander left the force decapitated and undirected - swallowed up in the Ukraine operation. Ukraine regained a sizeable bridgehead and took back territory the Russians will find it hard to regain.
Added to that is the ammunition situation for Russia.
The Ukrainians as part of the above operation used JDAM’s in the Russian ammo depot in Bakhmut. Ammo is clearly a problem. There is no doubt that the Russians along the entire front are showing clear signs of reduced capability and activity. The steady flow of ammunition has been severely hampered by the loss of the main supply depots and the removal of such large quantities of ammunition in the supply chain has had a marked impact. It’s only temporary- probably about a month or so - but it buys valuable time for the weather to change and for Ukraine to prepare its defence lines.
I’m not entirely sure these play such a part any more for Ukraine.
The advent of the glide bombs in such large numbers, and the Russians gaining experience in using them with almost no means for Ukraine to challenge their use in the air - either by eliminating the delivery aircraft or the bombs, has changed the game.
Soldiers will tell you to avoid drones, you need to be dug in using relatively narrow trenches so the drones can’t get in so easily and chase men down. But the glide bombs make light work of complex trench systems by blowing them apart.
Ukrainians have used their defence lines in the Pokrovsk salient and in the north and northwest it’s largely held - but in places it’s already been breached. 1 of 2
Fico's Futher thoughts.
Slovakian PM promises not to allow Ukraine into NATO due to threat of WWIII
The Slovak authorities will prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, as this could become the basis for the outbreak of World War III, said Prime Minister of the Republic Robert Fico. "As long as I am the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, I will ensure that the deputies who are under my control as the chairman of the ruling party never agree to Ukraine's membership in NATO," Fico said in an interview with STVR. At the same time, he stressed that Bratislava will not object to Ukraine's membership in the European Union.
In July, NATO countries announced at a summit in Washington about Kyiv's "irreversible path" to membership in the military bloc. In particular, the alliance confirmed that it is ready to invite Ukraine to become a member of the association when the necessary conditions are met and with the approval of all NATO members. Ukraine applied to join NATO in September 2022 under an accelerated procedure. However, most members of the bloc considered this accession impossible while the war with Russia is ongoing. This position is related to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, according to which an attack on one NATO member will be considered an attack on all members of the bloc.
Meanwhile, at the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense (the Ramstein format), which will take place on October 12 in Germany, NATO allies are going to offer Kyiv concrete steps towards future membership in the alliance. Earlier, the Financial Times wrote that outgoing US President Joe Biden could make an important decision on Ukraine's accession to NATO. At the same time, the so-called "West German model" is gaining increasing support, including in Washington - the FRG's membership in NATO that lasted more than 30 years until the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification with the GDR, said Jeremy Shapiro, head of the Washington office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Moscow Times
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦Liz
EU ports refuse to accept damaged ship carrying Russian fertilizer over 'megabomb' suspicions.
Moscow Times report 7th October
The Maltese-flagged cargo ship Ruby, which was damaged en route to Africa and was carrying Russian fertilizers, has been barred from ports in the European Union for several weeks due to concerns about the possible detonation of the ammonium nitrate it was carrying, The New York Times (NYT) reports. According to the publication, the bulk carrier left the port of Kandalaksha in the Murmansk region on August 22. It was supposed to deliver the cargo — 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate — to Africa. However, shortly after leaving the port, the ship ran aground and suffered damage to its hull, propeller, and rudder.
The situation forced the ship's captain to start cruising the coasts of Northern European countries in search of help. Norway allowed the damaged vessel to enter the port of Tromsø, where it stayed from September 1 to 4. After that, the ship's crew planned to go to the Baltic for repairs, in particular, to Lithuania. But the country's Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told parliament that the bulk carrier would be denied entry to the port of Klaipeda. Then the ship was refused entry in Malta and the UK.
As the ship approached British shores, Lithuania's former ambassador to the kingdom, Eitvydas Bajarunas, wrote in a column for a European think tank that the vessel was a "floating megabomb," warning of possible Russian sabotage.
As the NYT notes, Europe fears a repeat of the incident that occurred in the port of Beirut, where 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded on August 4, 2020. The explosion occurred due to welding work being carried out in a warehouse with ammonium nitrate. As a result, 280 people died, another 7 thousand were injured, and about 300 thousand were left homeless. The economic damage from the disaster exceeded $15 billion. After the explosion, protests began in the country, against the backdrop of which the Lebanese government resigned in full.
📸 26th October A damaged Russian-operated ship carrying 20,000 tonnes of explosive cargo is floating close to the Kent coast UK.
Link to our previous report. https://t.me/Ukraine_Report/25010
🇺🇸Trump at the first meeting with Putin asked about the supply of weapons to Ukraine : NYT learned about the details
October 5th Article.
In 2017, the first personal meeting of the presidents of the USA and Russia - Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin - took place within the framework of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. During the meeting, the leaders discussed key issues of world politics, including the role of Ukraine in international relations.
Former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reported that the Russian dictator tried to convince Trump of the negative aspects of Ukraine, calling it a corrupt and fabricated country.
Putin emphasized that Russia has every right to influence in Ukraine, especially in connection with its historical past and military actions in the east of the country. In response to the discussion of possible US aid to Ukraine, Trump suggested that Putin evaluate the possibility of supplying American weapons to Ukraine, to which the Russian dictator responded negatively, warning that "it would be a mistake."
Although Trump arrived at the meeting with a hawkish stance prepared by his advisers, he was unable to resolutely counter Putin's arguments. This meeting became an important moment for understanding Trump's future foreign policy position on Ukraine, which turned out to be ambiguous and often criticized.
Trump's policy on Ukraine has become a key issue of his presidency, particularly during his repeated meetings with Putin and has led to further controversies, including an impeachment inquiry related to his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019.
The real events of the 2024 election campaign once again focus attention on Trump's attitude towards Ukraine and his foreign policy views.
Link 🖇️
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱
Alina Peregudova lived in Mariupol. Loved animals, had a dog. She loved rollerblading in the yard with her friends.
She was engaged in weightlifting. She was a member of the candidate athletes of the national team of Ukraine.
"Alina was very hardworking, diligent, purposeful. Like all young people, she had many goals for the future," said Natalya Stepova, deputy director of the school.
During the full-scale invasion, the girl, along with her mother, uncle and grandmother, lived at 48 Morsky Boulevard. This area was one of the first to come under heavy and daily shelling by the Russian army.
At the beginning of March, communication, electricity, water and gas disappeared in the city. In order to survive, the people of Mariupol were forced to cook outside. On March 29, 2022, 14-year-old Alina, together with her mother and uncle, went to fetch water and came under fire. The girl and her relatives died.
🥇The Tank Turret Toss world record is being disputed!
We have kindly been informed of this competition entry from April 2023 by the 116th brigade of the TrO. The judges are currently evalutating the VAR.
The turret can be seen landing after a 8 second flight. Using S = UT + 1/2 AT squared this could have reached a height of 78.5m, which would exceed the 76 meters of the previous entry.
The marine from the 36th Marine Brigade, Yurii Hulchuk, who was returned on September 14 along with 102 other servicemen, lost his ability to speak and feel emotions due to torture in Russian captivity.
Yurii was studying Chinese philology but decided to join the marines in 2021. He was captured on April 12, 2022, at the Illich Steel Plant in Mariupol.
He was moved between several Russian prisons, including in Mordovia, one of the harshest places for Ukrainian POWs. His comrades reported that Yurii was starved, and he was tortured with a stun gun by a guard known as 'Dr. Evil.' As a result of the beatings, Yurii also lost the ability to walk. He spent over two years in captivity.
We wrote about Yurii just after his return from Russian captivity following a prisoner exchange. He is now undergoing rehabilitation.
Despite grim predictions, he now began to walk and speak!
According to his mother, the first thing he said was: 'Why so much pain? Why are people so cruel to one another?'
In the summer, the russians executed four Ukrainian soldiers at the Vovchan Aggregate Plant.
russian prisoners of war told about the execution during interrogation. Investigating such crimes is usually difficult due to hostilities that make access to evidence difficult. But this case is unique - a person who can become a suspect is now in Ukrainian captivity.
If the russian is proven guilty, he can be sentenced to life imprisonment.
▪️Ukraine released the Vovchan aggregate plant in Kharkiv Oblast on September 24.
@ukrainejournal
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2992. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.