Russia Plans Covert Mobilization Amid Heavy War Casualties, Reports BILD
Russia is reportedly preparing for a covert mobilization due to significant losses in its war against Ukraine, according to BILD and German analysts. International estimates suggest that 110,000 to 140,000 Russian soldiers have died since the conflict began in February 2022, prompting Moscow to increase its troop numbers through discreet methods.
Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine, Ivan Havrylyuk, reported that Russian forces in Ukraine have grown from 400,000 at the start of the year to 600,000 currently, with plans to expand to 800,000 by the year's end. However, regions in Russia are running out of funds to recruit contract soldiers, leading to speculation about a looming large-scale mobilization.
Analysts suggest that President Putin may use Ukraine's offensive in the Kursk region as a pretext for increased conscription, but this will likely be done covertly, without an official public announcement.
Transcript of President Zelensky's Independence Day address.
"Dear people!
Ukrainians always pay back their debts. And whoever wished misery upon our land shall find it in their own home. With interest. Whoever seeks to sow evil on our land will reap its fruits on their own territory.
This is not a prophecy, not gloating, not blind revenge; it is a pattern. It is justice. A boomerang for evil. And its launch began not far from the place where I am recording this address. The Sumy region. Mohrytsya. The river of Psel. A few kilometers from our border.
The border between Ukraine and oppression, between life and death. The border between an independent European state and the number one terrorist organization in the world.
913 days ago, Russia unleashed war against us, including through the Sumy region. It violated not only our sovereign borders, but also the limits of cruelty and common sense. It was endlessly striving for one thing: to destroy us. Instead, today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine. And whatever the enemy was bringing to our land has now returned to their home. And the one who wanted to turn our land into a buffer zone should think about preventing his country from becoming a buffer federation. This is how independence responds. It retaliates for our civilians, who are targeted by guided aerial bombs and Kinzhals, for our parents who have turned gray, for our children who are forced to study underground. For all our people who would prefer never to know the names of these cursed places in their lives: “Savasleyka”, “Olenya”, “Engels.” But unfortunately, Ukrainians know them. That is why, our enemy will also know what the Ukrainian-way retaliation is. Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged. They will know that sooner or later a Ukrainian response will reach any point in the Russian Federation that is a source of danger to the life of our state and our people.
The faded eyes of their chief perceive the whole world as a gray zone. But we will not allow to turn into a gray zone our lands, where the blue and yellow flag rightly belongs. A sick old man from the Red Square, who constantly threatens everyone with the red button, will not dictate any of his red lines to us. Only Ukraine and Ukrainians will determine how to live, what path to take, and what choice to make. Because this is how independence works.
Ukraine astonishes once again. Russia reverts once again to its repertoire. This is how the world media generally portray the events in the Kursk region. They show how Russia treats its citizens, whom it calls “the population.” How Russia “does not abandon” their own. How their soldiers loot their local shops. This is what Putin's Russia looks like in the eyes of the world. And in the same way, the entire world sees how our warriors provide water, food, and medicine to the local people, who say: “It's good that you are here now, not the Kadyrovites.” This is what Ukraine's dignity looks like. Civility. The virtue of our independence.
33 years ago, Ukraine was reborn on the maps of the world, and today Ukraine wins the hearts of the entire world. It inspires with courage. It serves as an example of how not to be afraid of Putin. And it unites the world around its Ukrainian worldview: in the 21st century, terrorists should find their reckoning in The Hague, not comfort in Valday. And no one else in the world will say: “Where is Ukraine?” Because every continent now says: “Ukraine must win.” This fuels our independence. Our Ukraine. It has no lack of foreign regions. We need peace and tranquility on our lands. Along our entire 6,992-kilometer border. On land, at sea, in the air, inside the country – wherever we stand guard for our values.
Just like our warriors do. In all directions of the front line and the state border, which is symbolized by the border pillars. And our will and struggle are symbolized by our people – our defenders, our pillars. Those on whose shoulders Ukraine stands strong. It stands strong in Kharkiv, in Kupiansk, in Zaporizhzhia region, it stands strong in Kherson region.
Satellite Images Reveal Extensive Damage at Russian Oil Depot Fire
Journalists from Radio Svoboda have published satellite images showing the ongoing fire at the Rosrezerva oil depot in Russia's Rostov region, now burning for four days.
An OSINT analyst estimates that the fire has completely destroyed 14 fuel tanks, with 4 partially damaged, while 16 remain intact. Due to heavy smoke, the condition of the remaining 44 tanks cannot be determined.
Russia Plans Covert Mobilization Amid Heavy War Casualties, Reports BILD
Russia is reportedly preparing for a covert mobilization due to significant losses in its war against Ukraine, according to BILD and German analysts. International estimates suggest that 110,000 to 140,000 Russian soldiers have died since the conflict began in February 2022, prompting Moscow to increase its troop numbers through discreet methods.
Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine, Ivan Havrylyuk, reported that Russian forces in Ukraine have grown from 400,000 at the start of the year to 600,000 currently, with plans to expand to 800,000 by the year's end. However, regions in Russia are running out of funds to recruit contract soldiers, leading to speculation about a looming large-scale mobilization.
Analysts suggest that President Putin may use Ukraine's offensive in the Kursk region as a pretext for increased conscription, but this will likely be done covertly, without an official public announcement.
🇺🇦 Day of the State Flag of Ukraine: Key Facts About the Blue and Yellow
Today, Ukraine celebrates the Day of the State Flag! Here are some interesting facts about the country's iconic blue and yellow flag:
- Official Adoption in 1992: Ukraine's state flag was officially approved in 1992, though its use dates back much earlier.
- Historical Roots: In 1918, the blue and yellow flag was carried by the Active Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the Ukrainian Galician Army, and ships of the Ukrainian People's Republic's Black Sea Fleet.
- First Appearance in 1848: The flag first appeared over Lviv Town Hall during the national revival in Galicia.
- Inspired by the Galicia-Volyn Principality: The design was inspired by the golden lion on a blue background from the coat of arms of the Galicia-Volyn Principality, though a simpler version with horizontal blue and yellow stripes became more widespread.
- Confirmed in 1918: The blue-yellow sequence was officially confirmed in a 1918 resolution on the naval flag of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
- Banned Under Soviet Rule: The flag was banned under Soviet power in Ukraine, with those using it facing imprisonment. Despite KGB monitoring, patriots continued to display the flag as a symbol of resistance and national pride.
Happy Flag Day, Ukraine! 💙💛
⚡️Ukraine returned 115 fighters from russian captivity.
These are soldiers of the National Guard, the Armed Forces, the Navy, and the State Border Guard.
The were exchanged following mediation by the UAE.
Among them are 82 military personnel who defended Mariupol, including about 50 defenders of Azovstal, naval sailors, three border guards and conscripts, national guardsmen from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant garrison, military personnel who defended the Kyiv region and took part in the battles near Hostomel, etc.
Nine illegally convicted prisoners of war were also released.
More than half of those released are conscript soldiers who were held captive by the aggressor for more than 2 years, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.
Many of the returnees have serious health conditions.
KHARKIV COUNTER OFFENSIVE
It’s been coming a while but the Ukrainians do seem to have engaged in a counter offensive in the Kharkiv sector. The OPSEC is tight but the move seems to be aimed at cutting off
Vovchansk from its access to the border regions behind.
With Russian forces being forced to deploy to cover the Kursk offensive further north, the timing is good.
This pressures the Russians to stay put and not interfere further north while at the same time achieving - hopefully- another major collapse of Russian positions that would be exceptionally humiliating for Putin. The whole Kharkiv operation has been a disaster from the day it started.
If Ukraine can dislodge the Russians then that places them in a position to enter Russia itself and cause mayhem in another sector of the frontline.
The whole strategic situation for Russia is changing.
The manpower issues are becoming increasingly difficult with losses running at 1300 a day. Recruitment isn’t working and even though they increased manpower in Ukraine from 400,000 to 600,000 almost all of that increase has been burned up. Moscow is faced with another round of undercover forced recruitment of another 200,000.
This has upset the big industrial war producers who are easy targets for the recruitment process because they can’t afford to loose the manpower. Putin won’t declare a public mobilisation because it’s so unpopular.
The army tends to find the softest targets and goes after those, but the regions are also complaining. Lack of manpower is resulting in infrastructure failure due to lack of maintenance and their budgets to enforce conscription and mobilisation are virtually zero.
There has been no effort to recruit women into work or industry - a move also seen as even more unpopular even as it’s technically essential.
It’s all a lesson in how, in an idealised dictatorship, the very fabric of the dictatorship fails to operate and do what it must do to survive, because it’s afraid of unsettling the people and risking its ability to survive if they get upset.
Dressing up victory and war as endless success when you aren’t winning and won’t even admit it’s a real war comes back to bite you in the end. All the pretence about what it is and why you’re doing it starts not to make so much sense. Forcing more men into the meat grinder is just another way of driving home you haven’t got a clue how to win, or when this thing can end. Even the lies start unraveling when every promise and excuse eventually falls flat or fails to materialise.
Putin only has himself to blame. He is clearly no strategic genius, just a bitter little man whose mind seems unable to focus on the details because it’s just too much to listen to. He never visits the front or meets ordinary soldiers and airmen. He never meets the injured or hands out medals to men in their hospital beds. He remains aloof and remote and isolated from reality. He’s become more and more like Hitler as the war proceeds. He could never face the public or the bombed cities, visit troops and couldn’t stand the site of injured or dead soldiers. These tyrants can never face what they have done.
Strangely enough Trump has the same feeling towards injuries and death as he made so clear again recently.
All these men in the end, are guilty cowards.
Today is Ukrainian Independence Day. It’s 33rd.
Day 913 of the war.
I wish the people
Of Ukraine well, I wish them victory and I promise to continue to do what little I can to help them win.
‘The Analyst’ MilStratOnX
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
Bohdan Belashov was born in Sumy. He was actively involved in football for five years, then got an injury, due to which the doctor forbade him to play professional sports.
He graduated from Sumy National Agrarian University College with a major in Finance, Banking and Insurance. Went to study at Sumy State Pedagogical University named after A.S. Makarenko Together with his friends, Bohdan volunteered, collected funds and helped children with cancer. He enjoyed life, made plans for the future.
On May 14, 2022, he voluntarily joined the ranks of the Armed Forces. From 2023, he defended Ukraine in the Donetsk direction. He held the position of gunner of the 3rd separate assault brigade.
On May 31, 2023, soldier Bohdan Belashov, with the call sign Belka, died near the village of Stupochki in Donetsk region. The soldier was 23 years old.
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian 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 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.