TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 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.
Joined Dec 2022
Vadim Shamarin, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, was detained, "Kommersant" report
Deputy of Valery Gerasimov was searched in a criminal case about alleged fraud.
🪐 Subscribe to Live: Ukraine
⚡️NBC: Intelligence officials say Russia, North Korea planning to disrupt US elections.
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is increasingly concerned that Russia and North Korea could be planning an "October surprise" to create turmoil and increase global tensions in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election in November, NBC News reported on May 24, citing senior U.S. officials.
"We have no doubt that North Korea will be provocative this year. It’s just a matter of how escalatory it is," a U.S. intelligence official told the news outlet.
Ukrainians are well trained. Russians are horse feces.
PURGE RIPS THROUGH RUSSIAN LEADERSHIP
We have already seen Putin use the constitutional process of a new administration to his advantage as he begins his fifth term. It’s one of the few things that are similar in appearance to the US - all cabinet members must submit their resignations.
Putin used this to move Shoigu into the waiting room for old timers to prepare to slip away, by making him head of the Security Council, where he is boss of former president and drunken war monger Dmitry Medvedev. The former head of the SC and FSB, Petrushev, was sent off to manage Russian ship building, of which he knows nothing and cares less.
The Defence Ministry however is undergoing a shake up like it hasn’t seen since the days of Stalin. Every one of the deputy defence ministers - the equivalent of the Secretary’s of the Navy, Air Force, Army and Strategic Rocket Forces, all of their assistant secretary equivalent’s, have been picked off one at a time time.
These aren’t civilians, they are serving military officers who do administrative jobs.
These are the people who sign the contracts and make the decisions about who gets what and how much the state pays.
In the past these jobs were considered highly lucrative, a reward for good service (by which we mean unquestioned boot licking and loyalty), and if you managed to profit from them that was fine. That’s how the state worked and as long as you didn’t make it too obvious what you were doing it was perfectly acceptable to skim a percentage off the top.
Those who did so are now finding that loyalty, as it always is in a dictatorship, is a one way street; you give yours but you can’t expect a paranoid leader growing afraid of his own position to return the favour.
These generals aren’t just being dismissed. They’re being arrested for corruption and humiliated. The purpose of that is to send a clear message down the line that the way things have been done in the past will no longer be tolerated.
The scale of corruption has become so onerous in the military that estimates suggest as much as 30% of the defence budgets have been used to engorge personal fortunes. The state can no longer afford the luxury of such a system. The Special Military Operation is nearly two and a half years in, Ukraine was almost out of weapons and still, still even then it carried on and is still in the game. How is that even possible, given what Russia has spent?
The only way to make things change is to change the way things operate.
To make the ministry an honest and professional institution that does what it’s supposed to do, not finance the flashy lifestyles of wealthy generals.
Yet there is more to this.
Officers who had honest reputations but were sidelined from field commands by being too outspoken about the failures in the field caused by crap equipment and supplies, have also been charged.
Rather than letting them get in and make things right, only in such a rotten system are they too being punished and forced out. It’s not really corruption in their case, it’s about having had the gall to complain. They were disloyal. Shoigu protected them to a point, but he’s gone. To Putin they’re a threat and raising them up, even having them around is a potential source of a military coup.
Better they too, are gone.
And the purge continues down the line.
This could have been an opportunity to raise up quality commanders and reward competence. But this is Russia, competence and loyalty are rarely found together.
Competence means you know what’s wrong and how to correct it. Loyalty means you know what’s wrong but say nothing and learn quickly you say only what’s required to be heard.
Loyalty in Russia is far more valuable than competence ever has been or ever will be. Keeping Putin in power, unchallenged is all that matters. As he ages and his absolute power corrupts him absolutely, it’s only going to get worse.
@EveryUkraineWarVideo Subscribe
France flies nuclear-capable missile as Russia holds drills
France has carried out its first test firing of an updated nuclear-capable missile, the ASMPA-R, designed to be launched by a Rafale fighter jet, according to the French defence minister, Sebastien Lecornu. It came a day after Russia said it began nuclear drills in its southern military district, which stretches from Russia into occupied Ukrainian territory. The announcement of Russian drills is partly directed at France after its president, Emmanuel Macron, said he would not rule out sending in troops on Ukraine’s side.
Sebastien Lecornu said, the missile was fired without a warhead by a plane in an exercise “above national territory … at the end of a flight representing a nuclear air raid”. He congratulated “all the forces, [defence] ministry teams and industrial partners involved” in a “long-planned” operation.
Read more
@Ukraine_Report
🇺🇦🤝🇮🇩 Blue
India's Russian oil imports rose a nine-month high in April after shipments on non-sanctioned tankers operated by Russia's largest shipping company Sovcomflot resumed, tanker data obtained from shipping and trade sources showed.
Refiners in India briefly stopped importing Russian oil in tankers belonging to Sovcomflot after the company's ships, along with its 14 tankers, were designated by Washington in February as being in breach of Western sanctions.
The West has imposed the sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has enacted price caps on oil and oil products loaded at Russian ports aimed at cutting Moscow's oil revenue that funds the war.
India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, is the top client for Russian seaborne oil.
🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz
It's a shame someone can't take the time to teach them how to place explosives for maximum affect.
The TM-62 anti-tank mines are being dropped on Russian positions using the British "Malloy T150" cargo drone.
The drone can carry up to 68 kg of payload and has a maximum range of 70 km.
https://t.me/EveryUkraineWarVideo Subscribe
wildlife in the middle of the war navigating between the landmines.
https://t.me/EveryUkraineWarVideo Subscribe
Democrats have launched an investigation into Trump's oil company quid pro quo.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/23/trump-oil-industry-money-investigation
This comes with a 10 minute audio.
Two grumpy old men on Ukraine
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul is asking Secretary of State Blinken if his administration will lift restrictions on weapons provided to Ukraine.
💬 They won't be able to win with the limitations you put on them, says Michael McCall
Many have already seen a photo from this fragment, but the full context must also be understood here. Blinken then repeated his ambiguous message, which he said when he was on a recent visit to Kyiv. He says that Ukraine should decide for itself how to use its weapons.
In turn, McCaul emphasized that the Congress itself, when deciding on aid to Ukraine, did not impose such restrictions on strikes on the territory of Russia. That is, all responsibility lies with the Biden administration.
Separately, pay attention to the graph itself, drawn by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). It shows three ranges of American weapons - Himars systems (86+ km), cluster ATACMS (165+ km) and ATACMS with a unitary warhead (300+ km).
@ukrainejournal
⏺🇨🇳🇹🇼 China has begun the "Joint Sword 2024A" military exercise, surrounding Taiwan on all sides. The maneuvers, held in the Taiwan Strait, will last until May 24 and aim to test the combat capabilities of Chinese troops in joint operations.
In response, Taiwan declared that its forces are on high alert and ready to repel attacks. The Taiwanese military is positioning Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) supersonic anti-ship missiles off the coast
📰 According to the Global Press newspaper, China will invade Taiwan in early June
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian Z fascist invaders.
I am a 72 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.
Joined Dec 2022
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