So overnight, an American Reaper Drone was “knocked” out of the sky by Russian fighter jets over international waters. Rather than shooting it down and causing an obvious international incident, they dumped fuel over it and the basically flew into it, causing it to crash.
Russia indicating they didn’t touch the drone. But they reportedly have ships on site to pick up debris. Wonder if it was a premeditated attack to get their hands on the tech? The attack seemed to have happened closer to Romania than anywhere else and definitely over international waters.
Poland just announced that they would be looking at transferring their MiG-29s to Ukraine in the next 4-6 weeks. They have a total of 29 MiGs and 18 Su-22s that they could transfer over. A local collaborator was killed with a car bomb in Melitopol, while Russia has announced they would be “inviting” citizens to attend enlistment centres in order to “update” their information. At the centres, they will be able to volunteer for Ukrainian duties…
In a bit of bad news, Kupiansk, on the northern border has received an evacuation order as Russian solders have inched their way forward.
In any case, all info looks to Ukraine simply holding the line until the spring thaw is over and the country becomes easier for fast and open advances that would suite the new military vehicles that Ukraine has received. The first batch of Ukrainian soldiers is just days away from completing training on the Leopard 2 tanks. This includes maintenance and repair teams.
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Poland leading the way again, being the first nation to supply Ukraine with fighter jets. MiG-29s to be precise. Poland were the first NATO nation to deliver Leopard Tanks.
They’re delivering 4 jets in the next couple of days, and expect to deliver a total of about 12 in the coming couple of weeks once they’ve had a bit of a tune up.
Slovakia has also expressed interest in sending some of their MiGs, however it’s unknown as to when or what quantity.
Poland’s really itching for this fight against Russia. They’re like a pitbull on the end of its chain. If it weren’t for NATO or the EU, I’m sure they’d have just declared war on Russia and got stuck in. To hell with the consequences.
Staying in Poland, it looks like the security services have smashed a Russian spy ring in the country, whose aims were to sabotage war efforts and the supply of equipment and weapons into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, over in Russia in Rostov the FSB building (for those playing along at home - FSB is just the old KGB with a new name…) caught fire and blew up. Now the Russians came out very quickly and said it was an electrical fault, but then somebody else from the FSB has come out and said that some “oils, fuel and lubricants” caught fire in the basement. I don’t think anybody is buying the “FSB were having a little science experiment day” excuse. Footage on Reddit shows multiple explosions and very thick black smoke pouring out of the building, so its possible there was some fuel / vehicles that blew up, however the regularity of the explosions and loudness of them suggested that there was some substantial ammunition being stored.
The battle for Bakhmut shows no signs of slowing or easing and remains a bloody meatgrinder and is expected to stay this way until Ukraine launches it’s expected southern counteroffensive later this month/foreseeable fututre.
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Extra news on the Poland spy ring, the discovered that they’d set up cameras on a whole bunch of sensitive sites, including a small regional airport port that has become the major coordination centre for most aid coming into Ukraine.
In terms of Poland’s support they know what life was like under Russia and they know what will happen further down the track if Russia wins. If Russia is successful, they’ll spend the next 5-10 years re-building their armies before they launch the next attack. The next attack will more than likely hit a NATO country, considering Putin will be older and less caring of consequences. If he hits a NATO country, we have WW3 guaranteed. Stopping Putin in Ukraine could avert a global war.
So an interesting development over the weekend.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Vladmir Putin for war crimes, including the abduction and forced adoption of Ukranian Children.
Russia of course, ignored the warrant. Vladamir Putin also made his first trip to sepratist held territory since the war broke out last year. He visited Crimea, and Mariupol and was filmed doing some hot laps around town.
He was meeting with supposed locals who were there supporting him, although these claims are unverified and there are reports that the locals were actually paid Russian actors as most of the people in Mariupol are either dead, have fled the region, and they looked too clean and happy living in a war zone.
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The ICC warrant is interesting as it’s heavily dependent on individual countries being part of the ICC and also enforcing the laws. India for instance, isn’t part of the ICC, however, if they were to want to impress Europe or any other countries and move away from Russia, they could, in theory, arrest Putin if he goes to the next G20 conference. It also heavily limits where he could travel in the future.
Poland and Slovakia have now confirmed that they’ll be sending jets, a total of almost 30 to Ukraine. Still older model MiG 29s and will take a bit to get all of them fully operational, but would be a huge boost to Ukraine, especially just with moral.
UK intelligence has indicated they’ve detected a huge decrease in assaults carried out by Russian forces across the front lines. Even Bakhmut has had a slight decrease in assaults throughout the past week or so. the UK has indicated that it suggests a general depletion of Russian forces across the board, which has caused them to not even be able to carry out local assaults. As an example, video footage came out of 10 Russian tanks in a row outside of Vuhledar, they were knocked out by artillery and drones, one-by-one.
Xi Jinping is currently in Russia on a 3 day trip, claiming to want to act as a peace broker for the war. He’s also indicating closer ties to Russia. Interesting to see what comes out of it, but can’t see China advocating for a restoration of Ukrainian territory.
Funny, because Chinas first point in their peace plan a month or so ago was quite literally
- Respecting the sovereignty of all countries.
It will be very interesting to see what happens. If they’re wanting closer ties to Russia militarily, it could really escalate things.
So as I posted yesterday, the ICC over the weekend opened up a criminal case against Vladimir Putin, and issued an arrest warrant.
Putin has replied to this by opening up a criminal case against the International Criminal Court and issuing local arrest warrants for the judge(s) and prosecutors who opened the case against him.
What a fucking loose canon.
Ahh the old 5 year old “No You!” play.
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ICC: Mr Putin, we’re putting out an arrest warrant for you due to your illegal invasion of Ukraine and countless war crimes and pure disregard for human rights. You’re a war criminal.
Putin: I know you are, but what am I?
ICC: A war criminal.
Putin: No, I know you are but what am I?
ICC: A war criminal
Putin: I know you are, but what am I?
ICC: FFS.
In reality should have been issued with MH17 was downed in 2014. I mean it doesn’t mean much, he’s not exactly going to go waltzing into a country that will arrest and extradite him.
So Ukraine has used drones to strike a military train heading towards the front lines in Crimea that was carrying long range missiles, causing massive explosions, and probably putting that train line out of commission for the foreseeable future.
No reports of casualties, but it’s a big move by Ukraine as using drones to strike so deep into Crimea is going to send shockwaves throughout the Russian military. It’s widely believed that the Ukranians are preparing for a counter offensive once summer begins and a breakout across the southern Dnipro river.
They’ve been probing Russian defences in Crimea since the beginning of the war, but since the Kerch Bridge went kaboomski (actual Ukranian word for explosion…) they’ve been probing the Russian defences somewhat periodically.
If Ukraine are able to successfully launch drones deep into Crimea from Kherson, it’s going to really worry the Russians.
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Their long range ability with drones has been there for ages. Two days ago, a Ukrainian drone was shot down a few km’s outside of Moscow
True, but being able to launch them from Kherson and have them loiter over Crimea until they find something juicy is a big benefit for them.
In overnight news, Russian trains have been filmed heading towards Ukraine carrying old T-54/55s they’ve dusted off and are rushing into service. For those who don’t know the T-54/55 platform is the most produced tank in modern times (since WWII) and is still in service by multiple countries (mostly third world African backwater states) and has fought in basically ever conflict large or small since they were first introduced.
It’s worth noting however, that Ukraine has been using their T54/55 platforms since the beginning of the war, and whilst they don’t have the firepower or armour that later generation tanks possess, the Ukranians up-armoured a lot of them in refurbishments since 2014. They’re still not the deadliest thing on the battlefield, but the photos and videos on Reddit showing the freight trains the Russians are carrying them on, their tanks don’t look like they have received any refurbishment or added armour at all. Whether they get a bit of an upgrade closer to the front line I do not know, however the armour on the T-54/55s is pretty thin, and we saw in the First and Second Gulf Wars Iraqi T-54/55s get absoloutely decimated on the battlefield when put up against the likes of American M1 Abrams, British Challanger 1 & 2, and German Leopard tanks. These tank varients will be coming into service very soon with the Ukranian military. It’s worth noting however that modern RPG and anti-tank weapons platforms will have no issue in tearing through a T-54/55s armour. Hell, even modern 30mm machine gun fire will turn them into torn open tin cans.
It’s also interesting to note that when the Soviets came out with the T-54/55 in the 50’, the Americans realized they were out gunned with their Sherman tanks and started production on the M60 Patten series of tanks.
Only a matter of time before they start re-commisioning WWII era T-34s if things continue the way they are.
And lastly, the British have confirmed that they will be sending Ukraine depleted Uranium tank shells with the Challanger tanks they’re sending Ukraine. Needless to say this has not gone down well in Moscow.
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What’s the advantage of the depleted Uranium shells?
Piercing heavy armor.
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They have greater penetration power. They’re denser.
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It can pierce tank armour much more easily than normal rounds.
It can also cause horrifying birth defects and death in children for generations
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