Ukraine War thread.

    Тransnistira is a souverign country. With Russian peacekeeping force, mostly Transnistrians themselves. With a world's maybe largest ammo depot. A friend of mine served there in Marines, 87-89. If it goes off - no Kishinev, Beltsy or how Romanians spell. I bet West should babble about nuclear attack, while they have megatons of conventional TNT. I may be wrong, but hundreds of kilotons.

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    The US has urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, warning the drone strikes risk driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation, according to three people familiar with the discussions - Financial Timeshttps://t.co/J7FMYuHN26 pic.twitter.com/BuOyjR9d0Y
    — Faytuks News ? (@Faytuks)


    Author is iffy..


    Let’s acknowledge that the “do not hit russian energy system” article is written by C. Miller.

    The author of famous “there are so many nazis in Ukraine that I live here, denigrate Ukrainians but I am still well and happy profiting from the struggle of Ukrainians I called nazis”

    Mariia Kramarenko (@KramarenkoMari3) March 22, 2024

    Ukraine’s European allies are either broke, small or irresolute

    In search of the perfect partner to derail Russian aggression


    Mar 21st 2024

    The perfect European, or so the sarcastic quip goes, should drive like a Frenchman, cook like the Dutch, be as organised as the Greeks and as humorous as a German. A variant of the joke might haunt those trying to devise the perfect ally for Ukraine as it fends off Russian aggression. Imagine a country the size of Latvia, with the budget problems of the hard-up Italians, the willingness to pitch in of Kremlin-loving Hungarians and the arms industry of neutral Ireland. Alas, that is close to the reality of Europe today. Ukraine needs allies that are hefty, big military spenders and decisively on its side. As things stand, countries are either too small to matter, too broke to help or too hesitant to use their power—if not all three. A new approach to meld the 27 countries of the eu into one sizeable and decisive ally is necessary yet elusive.

    Statesmanship has been woefully lacking. A summit of eu leaders starting on March 21st will feature plenty of sound-bites on Europe’s unwavering support, but little else. The mood ahead of the confab has been gloomy. What has become a war of attrition seems to favour Russia, whose economy has proved resilient to Western sanctions. Support from Europe and America has helped keep the Ukrainian state solvent and its soldiers in the battle. But now a dearth of artillery shells, supplies of which Europe has promised but is struggling to deliver, means holding the front line is the pressing aim for Ukraine, not counter-attacking in a way that might force Russia to sue for peace. Worse, if Donald Trump wins the American election in November, Europe could be left with the prospect of fending off Russia alone. In a bid to galvanise Europe, France’s President Emmanuel Macron has gone so far as to suggest some nato countries might send troops to Ukraine, prompting simultaneous howls of enthusiasm, panic and derision.

    On paper, Europeans should be in a position to deliver more than enough support to Ukraine. The 30 European countries that belong to nato have, taken together, the world’s second-biggest military budget (exceeded only by America’s), vastly outspending Russia. Their economy is bigger than America’s. And across the continent the desire for Ukraine to prevail is strong. The realisation that Vladimir Putin would be unlikely to be satisfied with invading just one neighbour is chilling.

    The problem is that the attributes needed in a good ally are unevenly spread. Most of Ukraine’s most vocal backers are also the bloc’s smallest countries, whether Baltic or Nordic. Take Estonia, which is among the eu’s biggest defence spenders as a share of gdp. Its healthy public finances mean it can act on its word: Estonia has the highest bilateral aid to Ukraine per head of any eu country. But that only goes so far given there are just 1.4m Estonians. Kaja Kallas, the prime minister, wants all of Ukraine’s allies to spend an extra 0.25% of gdp on fending off Russia. The money coming from Estonia would on its own finance enough rounds for Ukraine to match a mere two days’ worth of Russian artillery fire. One eu member, the Czech Republic, has dazzled with its agility. In recent weeks it has managed to source 800,000 rounds of artillery from far and wide—enough to match Russia for three months.

    Some countries are bigger—but lack Estonia’s sound public finances. Total defence spending by European members of nato in 2023 was about $65bn below what it would be if all members met the alliance’s minimum target of 2% of gdp. Over half of that deficit stems from a handful of countries with a debt-to-gdp ratio of over 100%. Italy, Spain and France are among the biggest eu countries, but have had little fiscal leeway to invest in military capacity in recent years. Their contributions to Ukraine have been underwhelming. For all Mr Macron’s Baltic-style rhetoric, the amount of military aid France has sent to Ukraine remains paltry (but is more than made up for by the quality of what is sent, officials in Paris argue, stressing its supply of howitzers and cruise missiles).

    One eu country is big, rich and thus able to spend lots. Alas, Germany falls into the hesitant camp. Its chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is ramping up defence spending and has pledged lots of cash and military equipment to Ukraine—often belatedly. Having dithered over sending weapons of any sort, then delayed the delivery of tanks, he is now opposed to the delivery of Taurus missiles that Ukraine thinks could help. Some in his party seem comfortable with the idea of a “frozen conflict”, or running on a doveish platform in next year’s elections. Poland, perhaps the only big, solvent country hawkishly worried about Russia, has led a successful charge to throttle imports of Ukrainian agricultural goods, thus hobbling its ally’s economy to placate its own farmers.

    With friends like these

    If some countries are short on size and others on either money or ambition, why not join forces? eu schemes abound, some better than others. A boost to the “European Peace Facility” agreed on March 18th was meant to deliver military kit worth €5bn ($5.4bn) to Ukraine—but turns out to be in part recycled past commitments. A better idea, floated by Estonia and now backed by Mr Macron, might be for the eu to jointly borrow €100bn that would go towards bolstering the bloc’s defence. This would be a repeat of the pandemic-busting Next Generation eu fund worth €750bn.

    Such a scheme could turn the eu into, in effect, a single large, solvent and potentially ambitious ally for Ukraine. For now it is being resisted by richer countries, mainly in the north of Europe, which end up repaying most of the money borrowed by the eu (and which agreed to the pandemic fund only as a one-off). Sceptics worry that a large defence fund would be hostage to a familiar type of sclerosis that befalls joint eu projects, often involving Hungarian vetoes. They may be right. But Ukraine might well prefer one big yet imperfect ally to lots of smaller ones that all fall short in their own different ways. ■


    https://www.economist.com/euro…broke-small-or-irresolute

    The largest attack on the Ukrainian energy sector recently. Russian forces fired more than 60 Shahed drones and almost 90 missiles last night - President Zelenskyy.

    What we know as of now:

    Kharkiv. Russians have carried out more than 15 attacks on energy facilities, and the city is almost without electricity.

    Zaporizhzhia. Russians launched 12 missile attacks. Infrastructure facilities and civilian buildings were damaged, and there are casualties. Dnipro HPP was targeted.

    Kryvyi Rih and Sumy region. Emergency shutdown schedules are introduced.

    Vinnytsia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Khmelnytskyi regions. Another attack on a critical infrastructure facility.

    Poltava region. Preventive shutdowns of substations have been applied and a schedule of emergency shutdowns has been introduced. Power engineers are working to restore power supply.

    President Zelenskyy


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    The largest attack on the Ukrainian energy sector recently. Russian forces fired more than 60 Shahed drones and almost 90 missiles last night - President Zelenskyy.

    What we know as of now:

    ?? Kharkiv. Russians have carried out more than 15 attacks on energy facilities, and the… https://t.co/JJNZLQS3WO pic.twitter.com/qePUzvzAza
    — Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) March 22, 2024




    After the largest 120-minute attack on an entire nation's energy infrastructure in the 21st century, the UN would like to remind you today that on March 23, it's Earth Hour. You can celebrate by turning off your lights for one hour at 8:30 PM.

    Useless tone-deaf organization. https://t.co/cU99VerpTh

    Malcontent News (@MalcontentmentT) March 22, 2024

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    ??The United States did not ask to stop attacks on Russian refineries: Ukraine will destroy the fuel infrastructure of the Russian Federation, - Podolyak


    \uD83D\uDD34 today the fake was dispersed across all channels ??\uD83D\uDD34
    — * (@V141NG) March 22, 2024


    Quote
    Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, denies that Washington demands Ukraine to stop attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure

    "This is fictitious information. After 2 years of full-scale war, no one will dictate to Ukraine the conditions…
    — * (@V141NG) March 22, 2024

    Biden doesn't want the price of gas/oil to go up during election season, makes sense he would say that. Ukes also have to be aware their fortunes wouldn't fare as well under Trump

    Well respected man about town doing the best things most conservatively

    What a bunch of shitbags..


    GJSSFh5XUAAwUb_?format=jpg&name=large


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    "Given that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not been fighting with their weapons for a long time, we can say that the goal of our SVO to demilitarize Ukraine has been achieved," Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, said.


    Ok Va-silly. pic.twitter.com/3yopiwCvfm
    — NOELREPORTS \uD83C\uDDEA\uD83C\uDDFA \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@NOELreports) March 22, 2024

    Golf cart assaults are becoming more popular..


    As many sources have already written, Russians began to use the Desertcross 1000-3 much more often on the front line. Now some tactics of their use by Russians in assaults have begun to become clear. A Russian unit consisting of 5-8 infantrymen on each “golf cart” moves to the frontline, after which they abandon the “golf cart” and are expected to take and hold positions.

    The 47th brigade shows the destruction of one such groups on the Avdiivka front:

    "Russian special forces that drove into Berdychi on a Chinese golf cart (no joke).

    At first, they even shot down our drone with an assault rifle. Then they used smoke cover, like in cool action movies, and ran to hide.

    Four hid in the remains of the building’s foundation, one lay down in the crater, and two hid under destroyed equipment.”


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    As many sources have already written, Russians began to use the Desertcross 1000-3 much more often on the front line. Now some tactics of their use by Russians in assaults have begun to become clear. A Russian unit consisting of 5-8 infantrymen on each “golf cart” moves to the… pic.twitter.com/FBRDBLedmo
    — Special Kherson Cat \uD83D\uDC08\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@bayraktar_1love) March 22, 2024

    After US and UK embassies warned about possible terrorist attacks - your regimes are responsible. It's them in charge. Criminals and terrorists.


    And I pity Ukrainians who'll suffer a response. Now. New Nuremberg is coming.

    Quote
    Meanwhile, an oil refinery is burning in Russia’s Novokuybyshevsk, Samara Oblast. Reportedly, two drones hit the refinery pic.twitter.com/hkjVqaXHpp
    Giorgi Revishvili (@revishvilig) March 23, 2024



    GJUQVjQW0AAVLgi?format=jpg&name=900x900



    And another:


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    Overnight, Ukraine attacked the Kuybyshevsky oil refinery in the Samara region in Russia. The refinery is specialized in the production of jet fuel among other products. The fire lasted until the morning. The refinery is 900km from Ukraine’s border. pic.twitter.com/F2tV139ZgW
    — NOELREPORTS \uD83C\uDDEA\uD83C\uDDFA \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@NOELreports) March 23, 2024


    Quote
    Adjusted the post. There are two oil refineries close to eachother in this area. This attack is carried out on the oil refinery which wasn’t hit previously.
    — NOELREPORTS \uD83C\uDDEA\uD83C\uDDFA \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@NOELreports) March 23, 2024