TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org

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.

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/not-nice-donald-trump-goes-berserk-after-alvin-bragg-corners-him/56146/

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/oh-come-on-just-admit-it-already/56144/

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…

🔱 Operational information as of 11:30 a.m. 18/05/2024 regarding the Russian invasion

⚡️The enemy lost one Su-25

❗️ The main summary:

🔵 Over the past 24 hours, the Air Force and missile forces and artillery of the Defense Forces hit 19 personnel concentration areas and one enemy radar station.

🔵 In total, over the past day, the combat losses of the Russian invaders, irreversible and sanitary, amounted to 1,210 people. Also, the enemy lost 13 tanks, 43 armored combat vehicles, 36 artillery systems, one anti-aircraft vehicle, one Su-25 aircraft, 35 BpLA operational-tactical level, three missiles, 65 vehicles and six units of special equipment.

🔵 Since the beginning of the day, 22 military clashes have taken place, eight of which are ongoing. Also, the Russian occupiers launched one missile strike, used 25 kamikaze drones, and fired 547 shots at the positions of our troops.

🔵 In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy launched two attacks on our positions in the direction of the settlements of Liptsi and Vovchansk. Does not achieve success. Our defenders are trying to push back the enemy in the direction of the settlement of Hlyboke.

🔵 In the Kupyan direction, units of our troops repel two enemy attacks in the direction of the settlement of Berestov. The situation is under control. The defense forces continue their assaults in the areas of Sinkivka and Terna settlements, and have partial success in some areas.

🔵 In the Kramatorsk direction, during the current day, the enemy tried five times to break through the defense of our troops. Ukrainian defenders repelled four attacks, the battle continues in the area of ​​the settlement of Klishchiivka.

🔵 The enemy does not give up its intention to seize the city of Chasiv Yar. For the second day in a row, the enemy is widely using armored vehicles in the direction of the settlement Novy. Yes, yesterday, Russian units with two tanks and 21 infantry fighting vehicles tried to penetrate our order of battle, but suffered losses and retreated. During the current day, the enemy has already used a tank, two BMPs and two Tiger armored vehicles here. During the battle, our troops destroyed a tank and two BMPs, the enemy retreated again.

🔵 In the Pokrovsky direction, two Russian attacks continue in the area of ​​the settlement of Umanske.

🔵 In the Kurakhiv direction, four combat clashes are ongoing in the directions Slavne – Paraskoviivka, Slavne – Novomykhailivka, Solodke – Vodyane, Solodke – Kostyantynivka. At the moment, no positions have been lost during the fighting.

🔵 In the Orykhiv direction, the enemy made one unsuccessful attempt to dislodge units of the Defense Forces northwest of the settlement of Verbove, Zaporizhzhia region.

🔵 In the Dnieper direction, the Defense Forces repelled one attack by the occupiers. Another combat clash continues in the direction of Oleshkivski Pisky - Krynky. Loss of our positions was not allowed.

Let's choose Victory together!✊
Glory to Ukraine!🇺🇦

StratCom of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in social networks

The SBU detained a traitor who "leaked" to the Russians the positions of the Air Defense Forces covering Kharkiv

Military counter-intelligence of the Security Service detained another FSB agent in the Kharkiv region. He was preparing a series of rocket-bomb attacks on the combat positions of the Defense Forces, which are protecting the region from a new offensive of the Russian Federation.

According to the available data, the main targets of the enemy were the bases of radar stations and anti-aircraft missile systems.

In order to destroy Ukrainian objects by fire, the agent tried to establish and transfer their coordinates to the Russian special service.

To fulfill this task, he traveled around the suburbs of the regional center, where he secretly recorded the places of possible deployment of units of the Armed Forces.

However, the Security Service prevented the implementation of the enemy's plans and detained the intruder in his own apartment.

At the same time, additional measures were taken to secure the positions of the Armed Forces.

Criminal tools were seized from the detainee.

According to the investigation, a 30-year-old resident of one of the villages of the Kharkiv district turned out to be an enemy accomplice.

At the end of 2023, he was recruited into the intelligence apparatus of the enemy's special service and received the task, in addition to transmitting data about air defense facilities, to mobilize into the ranks of the Armed Forces.

But military counter-intelligence officers prevented an enemy agent from entering a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the registration stage.

On the basis of the received evidence, the investigators of the Security Service informed the detainee of the suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (treason committed under martial law).

The perpetrator is in custody. He faces life imprisonment.

The special operation was conducted under the procedural guidance of the regional prosecutor's office.

Independent weekly edition https://mailchi.mp/kyivindependent/ukraine-weekly-qhzqk7stzm?e=7763f0b74a

FROM THE ANALYST

UKRAINE POUNDS RUSSIA WITH VAST DRONE STRIKE

The russians claimed they shot everything down. I laughed.
At one point an astonishing 80 drones in a vast line stretching back miles, described by some Russians who witnessed it as ‘creepy and surreal’, piled its way into an oil refinery complex.
In other more distant ones, drones the size of small aircraft undid the repairs the russians had made to a cracking plant.
Multiple drones struck the refineries at Tuapse. More smashed into the shipping tranfer port at Novorossiysk. At least 30 sea drones were identified attacking the ports on the Black Sea russian mainland. Crimea was struck again.
‘Hundreds’ of drones made themselves felt and hardly any were stopped. The russians are hopelessly bad at dealing with such wide ranging attacks - their geography plays against it and their incompetence does the rest.
Russia thought it would have no problem dealing with this drone war. The last thing it expected was Ukraine not just outmatch it but out produce it.
One of the things I’m proud of the UK for being part of is one of the Eight Partnerships established by NATO. The UK joins with Estonia in organising and manufacturing drones for Ukraine - pretty much anywhere they can be obtained and in huge volumes. If they can’t obtain them they make them. Over £3 billion has been allocated to these programs. Other nations partnerships concentrate on other specialisms, such as air defence, shell manufacture, spares and parts, and so on. All of the things that matter.
This prevents duplication and allows concentrated effort to be focused rather than haphazard.
And it clearly works.
Ukraine’s army of drone manufacturers, which amount to a passion in the country, many people cooperating after work, at night, during power cuts, relentlessly building a seemingly never ending series of parts and complete drone systems for the soldiers on the front, creates a sense of everyone being involved. And the russians can’t destroy it because it’s so highly dispersed.
I’m feeling especially mean spirited towards the russians today. It’s one of those days when I couldn’t give a flying shit about whether their entire country vanished and they all died. I’m sick of them constantly trying to be something they never were or ever could be. They must be the most deluded people in the planet. They’re miserable people who have never experienced happiness in its true form and seem to want nobody else to do so either. Let them watch in wonder as Ukraine’s drones rain down on them. It’s just the beginning.

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦!
@ukrainejournal

The Assassination Attempt on Robert Fico Will Change Slovakia Forever
By Dalibor Rohac
The Spectator
May 15, 2024

Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot several times. While it is impossible to fully flesh out the consequences of today’s assassination attempt, it is safe to say that the event is a dramatic game changer for Slovak, and potentially for Central European, politics.
During a meet and greet with the public following a cabinet meeting in the small mining town of Handlová, a man reportedly shouted at Fico, ‘Rob, come here,’ before shooting at him three or four times aiming at his chest and abdomen. The prime minister fell on the ground before being taken by his protection officers to the car and then on to the hospital in Banská Bystrica. His alleged attacker has been arrested.
The assassination attempt has, unsurprisingly, horrified Slovaks of all political stripes. Political violence has not been a regular feature of politics in Central Europe. To find an example of an assassination of a truly prominent political figure in Slovakia – or rather in Czechoslovakia – one may need to go back to 1923, when an anarchist shot the finance minister Alois Rašín in Prague. 
@ukrainejournal

2️⃣0️⃣ border guards received state awards

One reserve officer was awarded the Order "For Courage" III degree. Nine border guards were awarded medals "For military service to Ukraine". Five defenders received "Defender of the Fatherland" medals. Five more border guard officers were awarded the departmental incentive awards of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine "Firearms".

The awarding ceremony was conducted by the Deputy Head of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Major General Vadym Chenchyk.
@ukrainejournal

Zelensky:

Eighty years ago, one of the most terrible crimes against human life was committed: the Soviet authorities deported the Crimean Tatar people. Both children and adults - all of them. In a few days. Mercilessly. On a foreign land. To the accompaniment of lies. The exact number of dead is still unknown - at least a third of the Crimean Tatar people lost their lives as a result of this deportation. And people were able to return home only after tens of years. But the criminal was not punished. The regime was not condemned. Disdain for human life and state violence, which prevailed in the last century, have been revived in our time. Ten years ago, the old evil - the evil of genocide - updated its form, changed its ideological cover, but did not change its essence and targets, and it also went against Ukraine, starting with Crimea.

Our joint historical duty is to respond to Russia's blows with the resilience of our people, the victory of our state over the evil of occupation, and fair punishment for all Russian crimes of this war, starting from 2014. By defending Ukraine, our people and the truth about what happened on our land, we honor the memory of all those whose lives were destroyed and affirm the strength of humanity – strength for our future generations.

"Magura" fighters defeated the assault of the Russian Federation on the Pokrovsky direction: what is happening at the front

"The Russians tried to storm with the help of two BMPs and a tank, but they were spotted by aerial reconnaissance in time. The gunners, in cooperation with FPV drone operators, stopped the attack and destroyed the Russian equipment," the 47th brigade said.

Today, the most tense situation among the entire front remains in this direction.

🇺🇦@ukraine_report 🇺🇦🔱 Liz

Jeff Tiedrich
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/this-week-in-stupid-may-18-edition

https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/read-between-the-lines/56138/