TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
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.
Joined Dec 2022
🔱 Operational information as of 7:30 p.m. 18/05/2024 regarding the Russian invasion
❗️ The main summary:
🔥 Since the beginning of the current day, Ukrainian aviation has struck 18 areas of concentration of enemy personnel and two of their anti-aircraft missile complexes. Our rocket launchers and gunners struck three more enemy concentration areas and one radar station.
🔵 In general, out of 77 military clashes during this day, seven are still ongoing. At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers carried out assaults four times with the aim of knocking out the enemy from the occupied positions.
🔵 In the Kharkiv direction, 10 clashes took place during the day. Russian terrorists again carried out an air strike on the city of Kharkiv, using two guided aerial bombs. Assault actions were carried out in the directions of Hlyboke-Lukkyantsi, Lukyantsi-Vesele, Bugruvatka-Staritsa.
🔵 In the Kupyansk direction, the number of battles per day increased to nine, and in the Lymansk - to seven.
🔵 In the Kramatorsk direction, the occupiers are carrying out assaults in the directions of the settlements of Ivanovske and Kalynyvka. The total number of Russian attacks in the direction increased to 14.
🟠 The Pokrovsky direction remains the hottest on the map of hostilities. Out of 23 military clashes since the beginning of the day, four are still ongoing. Netaylové was added to the list of settlements where the enemy is directing its attacks.
🔵 In the Kurakhiv direction, the aggressor made ten attempts to overcome our defenses. The battle continues near Krasnohorivka.
🔵 In the Dnieper direction, the number of Russian assaults stopped by Ukrainian defenders on bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region increased to four today.
Support the Defense Forces of Ukraine! We will win!✊
Glory to Ukraine!🇺🇦
AFU report.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz
🔥🥊 Usyk defeated Tyson Fury in a fight for the title of absolute world heavyweight champion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Usyk on his victory.
"Ukrainians hit hard!
And in the end, all our opponents will be overcome.
Oleksandr Usyk is the absolute world champion!
A tough battle that proves:
Ukrainian endurance and strength give birth to Ukrainian victory.
Congratulations, champion!
Greetings, country!
Glory to Ukraine!" the president wrote in Telegram.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz
Taurus. Would a German missile become a "game changer" in the war against the Russian Federation ?
A year ago, Ukraine officially requested long-range Taurus missiles from Germany to fight the Russian invaders. For German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the transfer of these missiles is still a red line that he does not want to cross.
However, Kyiv does not lose hope and periodically raises the topic of the Taurus program.
The issue of the transfer of German cruise missiles to Ukraine is periodically raised by both Kyiv and its allies. In March 2024, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that the supply of Taurus with a range of 500 km would have a "significant impact on Ukraine's ability to defend itself."
"Thanks to the cruise missiles of other countries, the Ukrainians have already convinced the Russians to move their logistics bases, such as ammunition depots, far beyond the front line.
No matter how much the German government itself pushed Scholz to supply missiles, the chancellor is not ready to change his decision.
"This also applies to the Taurus issue. Along with strong support for Ukraine, one thing remains important to me: we will do everything possible to prevent the escalation of the war - in other words, to prevent a war between Russia and NATO," the German head of government said.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz
Ukraine took out another small Russian ship.
https://mil.in.ua/en/news/ukrainian-troops-hit-black-sea-fleet-minesweeper-in-crimea/
Good morning Resisters everywhere Sunny and 63⁰ here. My cat, Leonardo. He went away Friday. He was very old and I would have to lift him into my lap. He never tried to drive. But this was a favorite place.
Goodnight Resisters everywhere. I am tired. Gardening day today and tomorrow. Then 5 days of rain.
😡Reportedly taken in the city of Vovchansk, the Russian soldiers criminals appear to be looting, as usually.
The Russian military discount. 🤦♂️
May 18th 2024
🔹WSJ: Ukraine asked the US for permission to use American weapons against Russia.
🔹Sandu: Moldova is preparing to become a "strategic hub" in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
🔹Ukraine has prospects for a new counteroffensive — Zelensky.
🔹 On May 20, the USA will hold another meeting of "Ramstein".
🔹Ukraine disabled almost 14% of Russian oil refining capacity — Bloomberg.
🔹Dmytro Kuleba: Instead of thinking about Ukraine's concessions in the war, partners should be given help to win.
🔹Ukraine controls all entrances to Kharkiv Oblast and the work of Russian troops - Zelenskyi.
China, India and Turkey sharply reduced purchases of russian coal.
The largest importers of Russian coal - China, India and Turkey - sharply reduced its purchases in the first quarter of the year, state-controlled Vedomosti writes, citing statistics from the Ministry of Energy.
Exports to India and Turkey in the first three months fell by half compared to the same period last year and fell to 4.7 million tons and 4.1 million tons, respectively. China reduced purchases by 16%, to 12.9 million tons, and preferred to purchase Indonesian coal due to difficulties in settlements with Putinistan and sanctions. Supplies from the RF to South Korea, Japan and Taiwan also decreased.
At the same time, non-CIS countries are increasing purchases. Shipments to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased by 8% to 2.1 million tonnes, while Hong Kong purchased 1% more than a year earlier at 2.5 million tonnes in the first quarter. Supplies have also increased to ruZZia's neighboring states. Belarus purchased 2.2 million tons, increasing supplies by 38 times, Kazakhstan purchased 15% more than a year earlier - 150.000 tons, so-called Abkhazia increased purchases by 1.8 times, to 41.000 tons.
Still total coal exports from ruZZia in the first quarter of 2024 decreased by 12% in annual terms, to 42.9 million tons.
Market participants and analysts interviewed by the publication named low export prices, expensive logistics and a decrease in demand for russian coal in these countries among the main reasons for the decline in export supplies to the largest buyers. Earlier, coal miners have already drawn attention to the high cost of logistics, which, against the backdrop of falling prices, leads to low profitability of sales.
Source
@freerussia_report
Over the course of two years of war, the Belgorod region turned from a leading russian region into one of the worst. - research by “Layout”
The small regional center had once earned a reputation as a prosperous, well-groomed and quiet place to work or retire. In many respects, the Belgorod region was ahead of its neighbors in the Black Earth Region and most of the regions of the country, and in terms of migration growth per 1000 inhabitants, it was ahead of even Moscow.
Now the region shows the worst results in the country in terms of migration outflow, savings of citizens, business profits and many other development indicators.
People - the Belgorod region has become a leader in migration loss - the ratio of those who left and those who arrived in the region. And in terms of the increase in leaving residents, the region is second only to Moscow.
Money - The region dropped to the last place in the country in terms of the level of savings of citizens, while they began to consume less. This figure turned out to be less than official inflation. But in terms of rising food prices, the leading agricultural region has even surpassed Moscow.
Profits - Belgorod companies lost two-thirds of their profits compared to 2021- minus minus 64% in two years. In border Shebekino, revenue and profits fell for eight of the ten largest companies. Business lost clients and employees. Entrepreneurs complain about difficulties in paying salaries to employees.
This is only part of the data on the consequences of the war for the Belgorod region. But all of them do not show the full scale of losses. Layout spoke to local residents and analyzed dozens of indicators about the destruction of the economy and life in the region.
The Central Bank's data show that the Belgorod region did not fall into the two main categories of regions where the war significantly supported the economy and revenues. The Belgorod region is not among the key regions for the military-industrial complex, and there are hardly many contract soldiers (Chechnya, Dagestan, the annexed Crimea, Buryatia, Tyva, and the Altai Republic) in the region either.
The regime doesn't help. There is money for shelling, but not enough to help enterprises from consequences of shelling. And business are burdened further with part of the defense cost.
Read more (Russian)
@freerussia_report
Rebekah Jones. Boeing understands money. They should face hundreds of millions in fines and then civil damages.
https://open.substack.com/pub/rebekahjones/p/boeing-whistleblowers-suicide-note?r=70k1h&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Who wants a prosecutor who is "nice"? He would be letting guilty men walk.
Rest in Peace
🕯 May 17 was the anniversary of the death of 5-year-old Vsevolod Kucherenko.
In the family, the boy was gently called Seva. He lived with his parents in the village of Zelenivka in the Kherson region. He went to kindergarten there.
"He grew up a very intelligent boy. He was cheerful, kind, smiling. Mom and Dad were the best for him...", says family friend Anastasia.
After the invasion of the Russian army, Seva's family was evacuated, but after some time they were forced to return on business.
On May 17, 2023, the Russian military began shelling Zelenivka. The boy and his grandfather were playing on the playground. Grandfather died immediately. Vsevolod was badly wounded.
The father, who was nearby, grabbed the boy and stopped a passing car to immediately take the child to the hospital, but on the way the boy's heart stopped...
The russians killed him. One year later, the russians are still killing children in Ukraine.
Rest in Peace
💔 During the execution of a combat mission, the chief of staff - the first deputy commander of the aviation squadron, lieutenant colonel Denys Vasylyuk, died.
Denis Oleksandrovych was a fighter pilot of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he has flown dozens of sorties and is a full knight of the Order of Courage.
🕯 Eternal memory of the hero
831 brigade Tactical aviation
CONTINUES….
With a week now past we have a much better picture of what the Russians are doing and how it’s going.
We also have encouraging signs that Ukrainian forces everywhere are getting the ammunition they need. Several low key comments and images indicate the 155mm shells are flowing as are the small arms rounds.
Cluster munitions may be vile as a concept but they have been massively effective in this war where Russia has such a huge manpower advantage.
Overall a brave and intense defence by Ukraine that has shown consummate skill and courage - and frankly a great deal of very effective and well communicated staff level planning.
Things don’t go as well as this has for the defenders without rigorous staff work and everyone knowing what was meant to happen. The problems were always about how much land to give to defend successfully given the geography, the weight of attack, and the restrictions on where they could fire. A week into this and I think Ukraine has a lot to be proud of.
The question is what will the Russians do with the troops stationed further around the border in Kursk?
Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
From "The Analyst:"
KHARKIV: RUSSIANS HELD
After advancing around 8km into Ukraine the Russians have largely been held back. This is a combination of reserves, defence lines, sufficient depth to be able to fire at them with the weapons provided under the terms of use rules enforced by donors, and the rapid relocation of elite brigades.
The Russians have taken about half of Voschansk on the right side of the river and have reached the outskirts of Liptsy on the left side. Liptsy matters because it’s a point on the main Kharkiv road from Russia that they can use for most artillery to shell the city. As they seem obsessed with raising in to the ground this is their prime target.
During the initial attack the Ukrainian Border Guards - small groups intended to identify the attackers and assess their strength, before retreating to the first defence line, managed to hold their positions for as long as 8 hours, providing invaluable intelligence and a major nuisance to the Russian advance.
This may have allowed the Russians to take the first four villages, but the defence plan was always to sacrifice these - there was no viable way to defend them.
The border guards fight was exceptional and they outperformed everyone’s expectations - true heroes. The vast majority successfully reached the first line of defence in front of Liptsy having bought valuable time.
Drone operators of the 42nd Brigade once again showed their incredible expertise as they smashed up wave after wave of Russian armour - the Russians making it easier by following the same attack route time after time as they always do. There is a mass of video evidence showing their success.
The Russians are still held up at the initial defence line that was designed to hold them back for Ukrainian reserves to reach the First Defence Line which is still 3km south, which tells you something about how tenaciously the Ukrainians are fighting the orcs. You can’t help but get the feeling the Russians expected this to be much easier and quicker. They certainly tried to use a more combined forces type approach to this attack. Instead it’s become much slower and more of a slog than they planned for.
Russian advance infantry forces that reached Liptsy were quickly mopped up and many surrendered.
The Vovchansk front had the same plan as Liptsy. The first border villages could not be held and a fighting withdrawal became necessary. Vovchansk however is much closer to the border and it was inevitable with the weight of Russian forces pressing here, they got into the town.
Another issue for the defenders was the open fields here left nowhere to hide and there was open ground everywhere with no defensive positions.
This meant they had to pull back - but they also had the same problem with being able to fire at Russians only on Ukrainian territory. For that you need space.
Yet again the border guards performed an extraordinary fighting retreat keeping the Russians out of the town for as long as they could while reinforcements arrived.
The main defence line here is not in the northern part of the city, but south of the centre on the southern banks of the river Vovcha.
It’s taken the Russians a week to move just 3.5km and they’re nowhere near taking Vovchansk. They’re facing mobile and flexible defences that make their lives a misery, despite the fact they have unlimited air support from glide bombs.
The trouble is the gliders only work on fixed positions and the Ukrainians are keeping themselves mobile to harass the attackers.
Still the big issue remains not being able to hit Russian supplies and reinforcements over the border.
Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State sort of implied that the Americans weren’t stopping the Ukrainians from doing what was needed, using the phrase ‘it’s
Ukraine’s decision on how to prosecute the war’. Was that permission or wasn’t it? Nobody knew. The State Department spokesperson when asked said ‘there’s been no change to the United States position’. So we still don’t know and assume the use of weapons over the border is a no-go.
CONTINUED…
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.
Joined Dec 2022
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