Putin Recognizes Donbass Republics, Sends Russian Military to 'Denazify' Ukraine

[sToRmR1dR]

"Last visit assurance": The Democrats have sent CIA chief to Ukraine to be sure that lies about money laundering and Burisma "still hold".

 

[SOTTREADER]

Have a good trip. Hope for you to see more than a resort view of Thailand

I had an interesting experience - I left my phone in a taxi or rather it fell off my pocket and ended up under the seat without me knowing. What a nightmare as I only noticed after we had been dropped off and the taxi had left. .

Anyways, I found that taxi driver about an hour or so later by the grace of God / the universe and retrieved my phone. It's such an easy thing to do!

Thanks - if you've only been backpacking in Thailand, next time try some resorts, they aren't too shabby especially when you consider what the equivalents would cost in a European or Western country.

Apologies for being off topic from the title of the thread!!

If you come from a country like the UK, a sky like this makes your heart melt with warmth. I know this is a normal sky for other European countries but not the UK! Ours is usually a constant and consistent grey colour.



Slightly coming back on-topic, I can see why many Russians are choosing this place if they can work remotely. The cost of living is very low and the quality very high. The food is fresh and the natives are kind but firm (certainly no pushovers).

If you can earn a living in the West but live in the East, that's heaven. All the troubles and politics seem so far away when you are surrounded by water and clear blue skies.

 

[youlik]

The headline of this news is somewhat ahead of events. Only the next court session took place, and not the whole process, but this news shows that freaks exist not only on the Ukropian side, they are everywhere, but the position of the authorities and the military command towards such ugly manifestations is fundamentally different. Personally, I am very glad that it was in the tragic sense of Russell Bentley that the criminals are not covered up, but will be punished according to the law.

The murder trial of Russell Bentley took place in Donetsk
Today, a court hearing was held in the capital of the Donetsk People's Republic in the case of the murder of a volunteer of the Donbass militia, Russell "Texas" Bentley.

The defendants were escorted into the courtroom, and the prosecutor, the widow of the murdered man, Lyudmila Bentley, and her lawyer also entered. The meeting was held behind closed doors.

After a closed court session in Donetsk, Lyudmila Bentley said she was pleased that the trial of those accused of murder was aimed at clarifying the truth.

"I am pleased that the court is clearly determined to find out the truth," the woman said. She declined to comment further. The judges and lawyers also declined to comment on the outcome of the hearing.

Earlier, on November 25, at the first meeting, the judge decided to close the trial in this case. At a hearing on December 5, the court rejected the defense's request to open the meetings to the press.

In September, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation completed the investigation of the criminal case of Bentley's murder. As the press service of the Investigative Committee told RIA Novosti, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has established "all persons involved in the death" of Bentley and the circumstances of the crimes committed. The defendants in the case were four Russian soldiers, Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsev, Vladimir Bazhin and Andrei Iordanov. According to the investigation, on April 8 in Donetsk, Vansyatsky, Agaltsev and Iordanov "used physical violence and torture, resulting in death." On the same day, Vansyatsky and Agaltsev blew up a VAZ-2115 car with Bentley's body with a TNT bomb. On April 9, at the direction of Vansyatsky, Bazhin, a serviceman of the same military unit, "committed concealment of a particularly serious crime by moving the remains of Bentley from the scene of the incident."

Bentley joined the DPR militia in 2014. He said that he went to Donbass because he admired the courage and resilience of the local population. During the military operations, he showed sincere compassion for those in need, he raised funds and transferred humanitarian aid to the elderly, women and children of Donbass.

Russell Bentley has repeatedly expressed support for the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, and has been awarded DPR awards. He viewed the Russian special operation as the beginning of the end of the Kiev regime's aggressive war against Donbass. In 2022, he said that Russia had saved literally hundreds of thousands of human lives by coming to the aid of Donbass.

В Донецке состоялся суд на убийцами Рассела Бентли

How nice it would be if all the help from the West to the Bandera regime consisted in this. The war would have ended a long time ago.

"Abroad will help us!" The Canadian Armed Forces have sent "gender advisers" to Ukraine and Haiti
The Canadian Armed Forces are sending "gender advisers" to Ukraine and Haiti to integrate gender ideology into the military activities of these countries. This is reported by the True North portal.

According to the Canadian Ministry of Defense, "gender consultants" are full—time military positions, while "gender coordinators" are part-time positions. These specialists are called upon to support commanders in integrating gender perspectives into both institutional and operational processes.

The latest report from Canada's Department of National Defense highlights CAF's commitment to gender policy, as promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada implements such a policy with regard to the military in Poland and Latvia.

However, this initiative has been sharply criticized by veterans and observers in the country, who question its relevance during active conflicts and humanitarian crises. Moreover, in their quest for gender equality, officials have reached the point of absurdity. For example, the Royal Canadian Navy is replacing the marching song Heart of Oak with something "more inclusive" due to concerns about "colonial, exclusionary, and gender-specific lyrics." Andrew McGillivray, a former naval officer and president of Veterans for Freedom, spoke about this on True North. He criticized the growing emphasis on gender analysis in the military and questioned the usefulness of these efforts in the field.

"I doubt that the countries in a state of war or humanitarian crisis that we're trying to help care about the gender nonsense that Canada is promoting when they're struggling to keep people alive," he said.


But while foreign "integrators" are going crazy and "helping" Ukraine to fight against Russia, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Max Buzhansky explains the true motives of such "help". He stated that the Ukrainian authorities are willing to speculate on the topic of gender equality, because, according to him, the West is willing to allocate funds for such an agenda. That is why it is actively pedaled by the Ukrainian "grant-eaters". The money allocated for "gender equality" can easily be stolen by writing in reports that "gender ideology" is being introduced in Ukraine.

However, the situation at the front is such that the mobilization of Ukrainian women will begin soon and they will die along with men. That's when real gender equality will come!

«Заграница нам поможет!» Вооруженные силы Канады направили на Украину и Гаити «гендерных советников»

Spoiler: Russian spelling

Заголовок этой новости несколько опережает события. Состоялось только очередное заседание суда, а не весь процесс, однако данная новость показывает, что уроды существуют не только на укропской стороне, они есть везде, но принципиально отличается позиция властей и военного командования к таким уродливым проявлениям. Лично я очень рад тому, что именно в трагическом случае с Расселом Бентли преступники не стали покрываться, а будут наказаны по закону.
Как было бы хорошо, если бы вся помощь запада бандеровскому режиму заключалась в этом. Война бы давным-давно закончилась.

 

[Adobe]

Putin vows retaliation for Ukrainian drone strike​

"The organizers of the strike on Kazan will “regret” what they did, the Russian president has said"

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the organizers of Saturday’s drone attack on the city of Kazan will face a harsh retaliatory response."

“Whoever and no matter how hard they try to destroy something [in Russia], they will face many times greater destruction in their own country for it and will also regret what they are trying to do in our country,” he said Sunday."

Putin vows retaliation for Ukrainian drone strike

The organizers of the Kazan attack will face “many times greater destruction,” the Russian president has said

www.rt.com

 

[Joe]

Without tactical ranges - seeing the destruction at scale, which is critical, these photos are misleading laypeople. Also its contested in same articles' comment section that these images are simply regular war damage since 2022.

I don't see how they are misleading. They show large holes in multi-storey buildings. I think they're pretty impressive. But the extent of the damage that oreshnik can inflict was never, as I understand it, the point about the missile. The point was, as Putin has said repeatedly, that it can't be shot down. I think most people don't appreciate how significant that is, and tend to think that a new missile's significance depends only on its destructive power.

 

[Ca.]

Kurakhove: Ukrainian Army Defeated, Russians Take All Residential Sector Of The City

Kurakhove has come almost completely under Russian control, although more work is still to be done to clear the outskirts. The Russian Armed Forces have seized nearly the whole bank of the Sukhi Yaly River, taking a number of settlements.

southfront.press

​

Russia ready to normalize relations with US without detriment to its interests — Putin​

The previous generation of Russian politicians chose the course towards the country’s destruction for the sake of joining the so-called civilized world but this was what the West wanted, President Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russia is ready to normalize relations with the United States and other Western countries but without detriment to its interests, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday.

"It is possible to do everything upon wish. We have never abandoned this wish," the head of state said, responding to a question about the possibility for Russia and the United States to normalize their relations.

Everything changes in international relations and only interests remain invariable, in this case, "the interests of Russia and its people," the Russian leader stressed.

"If we see that the situation changes in a way that there are opportunities and prospects for building relations with other countries, then we are ready for that. It is not a question of us but it’s a question of them. But this should be without detriment to interests of the Russian Federation," Putin emphasized.

Speaking about changes in international relations, the Russian leader gave examples from the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, he recalled that after the Crimea War of 1853-1856, when a series of restrictions were imposed on Russia, many wrote that it isolated itself and did not respond to injustices occurring in the world.

In response to that, as Putin went on to say, then-Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire Alexander Gorchakov sent out a letter with the following words: "Russia is not angry. Russia is concentrating."

"Gradually, as Russia was concentrating, it returned all its rights in the Black Sea as well, grew stronger and so on," the Russian leader said.

Putin also drew attention to the fact that some historians described the Crimea War as ‘World War Zero’ as practically all the European powers participated in it against Russia. However, as he went on to say, the situation changed and these same countries were already Russia’s allies during World War I.

"Everything changes and only interests remain invariable," the Russian leader concluded.

Previous generation of politicians ruined Russia as desired by West, says Putin​

The previous generation of Russian politicians chose the course towards the country’s destruction for the sake of joining the so-called civilized world but this was what the West wanted, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin on Sunday.

"In the newest history, we have passed the period when our previous generation of politicians, in my view, set course even towards the destruction of their own country in the hope that Russia would become a part of the so-called civilized world. And this was what the civilized world wanted," the Russian leader said.

As Putin pointed out, "as soon as Russia’s potential dwindled and it became weaker, they [the West] began to ruin it instead of making it an equitable partner and a participant in this civilized world."

"Unfortunately, this is how the world is arranged, at least today. And if we will build relations with someone, we will build them only on the basis of the interests of the Russian state," Putin said, speaking about the prospect for Russia to normalize relations with the West.

A New Hope: Ukrainian Counteroffensive Scenarios

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly preparing a major counter-offensive in Jan. 2025. The exact direction and the date of the attack are being carefully concealed, but intelligence signs already make it possible to draw preliminary conclusions and build up scenarios for the future...

southfront.press

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly preparing a major counter-offensive in Jan. 2025. The exact direction and the date of the attack are being carefully concealed, but intelligence signs already make it possible to draw preliminary conclusions and build up scenarios for the future developments…
A few weeks ago, the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden ordered a one-off delivery to the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) of more than a thousand armor and vehicles from US depots.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is taking unprecedented measures to increase the number of ground forces, in particular the manning of assault units.

First, Volodymyr Zelensky stepped up mobilization in the country despite huge political risks. It is reasonable to assume that preparations for a major ground operation are what behind the widespread atrocities of military commissioners on the streets of Ukrainian cities. A huge number of videos have recently been circulating on social media that show Ukrainian military recruitment employees breaking locks in houses at night and stealing men right out of bed, gassing them out of their cars at traffic lights, and simply fighting with them in full contact in broad daylight. Curiously, Ukrainian military commissioners do not use weapons because they fear nocturnal executions, while young men who are not ready to die for Zelensky are no longer afraid of criminal prosecution, so they fight back in full force.

Vyshhorod, the Kiev Region. Ukrainian military commissioners gassed a passenger out of the car

Forced mobilization on the streets of Ukraine


Dnipro, the Dnipropetrovsk Region. A man attacked a Ukrainian military commissioner while he tried to forcibly mobilize him

Second, some UAF servicemen were urgently reassigned to other positions. Many soldiers and officers from the air defense forces and even airmen were sent to the infantry. Overall, according to various estimates, Ukraine is preparing a reserve of about 30,000 people for a large-scale counteroffensive operation.

“Two sources in air defence units told the Guardian the deficit at the front has become so acute that the general staff has ordered already-depleted air defence units to free up more men to send to the front as infantry.”– The Guardian

Third, the authorities in Kiev are now talking about a ceasefire. This was already the case before the Ukrainian Armed Forces raided the Kharkiv and Kursk Regions.

“Calculated scenario”: raid on Russian regions (Kursk, Bryansk or Belgorod)

Experts have been talking for quite a while about Kiev’s plans to launch a counterattack in the Kursk Region. It could be a “the final blow” for Zelensky. That’s why the Ukrainian side is conducting a deliberate disinformation campaign to camouflage the direction and date of a possible attack. And all this is happening amid the actual semi-collapse of the Ukrainian front in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions, which should dull the attention of Russian military commanders, who are elated by their recent tactical successes.

Nevertheless, Russia’s reconnaissance in the Kursk direction is now very well organized, so it is quite easy to uncover the redeployment of Ukrainian troops.

The UAF may also enter the neighboring Bryansk and Belgorod Regions, but the Russian side has obviously learned from its past mistakes and has reinforced its border areas in the threatened directions.

“Uncovered scenario”: counteroffensive on the Kherson direction

A possible attack by the Ukrainian army in the Kherson direction could have put the Russian troops in an embarrassing situation, but this time Kiev’s plans seem to have been uncovered in time.

Russian units forced the Dnieper River and launched a fierce assault on Kherson. Today’s news that North Korean SOF officers have finally been spotted near Kherson may also seem like a curious coincidence. In addition, footage of echelons with North Korean military materiel moving along the railroad appeared in the Ukrainian media. Not only 170-mm Koksan SPG, but also KN-15 medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead were noticed. Of course, Kiev is actively disseminating data on the movement of North Korean echelons of tactical nuclear weapons to the Kherson direction, but the matter is more likely to be about its non-nuclear version designed to destroy large concentrations of the adversary infantry.

“Suicide scenario”: counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia direction

Since yesterday the UAF have been hitting all the highways with FVP-drones, and with such intensity that “veterans” pay particular attention to it. Besides, one cannot discount the activity of Ukrainians in regrouping their troops in this direction. It can be assumed that the Ukrainian army is probing the front in order to identify weaknesses in the Russian defense and disrupt the logistics of the forward echelon units before the counteroffensive.

Considering that serious defenses have been built here over the two years of fighting, another attack by the Kiev regime here would look like suicide. Nevertheless, Volodymyr Zelensky and the nationalists who support him obviously think of themselves as descendants of the fearless Zaporozhian Cossacks, so nothing prevents them from going all-in before they die.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1870863402513433031

https://twitter.com/x/status/1870590419312243150

https://twitter.com/x/status/1870755293686112646

Russian troops liberate two communities in Donbass area, Kharkov Region over past day
Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicts 480 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russian troops liberated two communities in the Donbass area and the Kharkov Region over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Sunday.

"Battlegroup West units liberated the settlement of Lozovaya in the Kharkov Region as a result of decisive operations… Battlegroup Center units liberated the settlement of Krasnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic as a result of successful offensive operations," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicts 55 casualties on Ukrainian army in Kharkov area​

Russia’s Battlegroup North inflicted roughly 55 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed five enemy howitzers in its area of responsibility in the Kharkov Region over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup North units operating in the Kharkov direction inflicted casualties on the armed formations of a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army and a territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Borshchevaya, Kazachya Lopan and Volchansk in the Kharkov Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 55 personnel, six motor vehicles and five 122mm D-30 howitzers, it specified.

Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicts over 480 casualties on Ukrainian army in past day​

Russia’s Battlegroup West inflicted more than 480 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed ten enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

During the last 24-hour period, Battlegroup West units "inflicted losses on manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian army and two territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Petropavlovka, Glushkovka, Dvurechnaya and Zagryzovo in the Kharkov Region, Yampolovka and Terny in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repelled six counterattacks by enemy assault groups," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past day amounted to more than 480 personnel, five motor vehicles, a Polish-made 155mm Krab self-propelled artillery system, a US-made 155mm Paladin self-propelled artillery system, a British-made 155mm FH70 howitzer, a 152mm Akatsiya motorized artillery system, a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, two 122mm D-30 howitzers and three US-manufactured 105mm M119 artillery guns, it specified.

Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicts 300 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day​

Russia’s Battlegroup South inflicted roughly 300 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed two enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup South units improved their tactical position and inflicted losses on formations of a mechanized brigade, two airmobile brigades and a mountain assault brigade of the Ukrainian army in areas near the settlements of Zvanovka, Fyodorovka, Zakotnoye, Podolskoye, Dachnoye, Belokuzminovka and Seversk in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 300 personnel, a Spartan armored personnel carrier, three pickup trucks and two 122mm D-30 howitzers, it specified.

In addition, Russian forces destroyed an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army over the past day, it said.

Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicts 480 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day​

Russia’s Battlegroup Center inflicted roughly 480 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed two enemy tanks and two armored combat vehicles in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

During the last 24-hour period, Battlegroup Center units "inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of five mechanized brigades, an infantry brigade, a motorized infantry brigade and an assault brigade of the Ukrainian army, a marine infantry brigade and an assault battalion of Ukraine’s national police in areas near the settlements of Dzerzhinsk, Peschanoye, Andreyevka, Zverevo, Udachnoye, Krasnoarmeisk, Novoolenovka and Novoyelizavetovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. They repulsed 11 counterattacks by Ukrainian armed formations," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 480 personnel, two tanks, a Varta armored combat vehicle and a Kozak armored fighting vehicle, nine motor vehicles, a 152mm Msta-B howitzer, a 152mm D-20 howitzer, two 122mm D-30 howitzers and a US-made 105mm M101 artillery gun, it specified.

Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicts 185 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day​

Russia’s Battlegroup East inflicted roughly 185 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed four enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup East units kept moving deep into the enemy’s defenses and inflicted losses on formations of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian army and two territorial defense brigades in areas near the settlements of Vremevka, Skudnoye and Konstantinopol in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Temirovka in the Zaporozhye Region. They repelled a counterattack by enemy assault groups," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 185 personnel, two motor vehicles, a 155mm Bogdana self-propelled artillery system, a 152mm Akatsiya motorized artillery system, a 152mm D-20 howitzer and a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, it specified.

Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicts 75 casualties on Ukrainian army over past day​

Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted roughly 75 casualties on Ukrainian troops and destroyed four enemy artillery guns in its area of responsibility over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup Dnepr units inflicted damage on manpower and equipment of a mountain assault brigade and a territorial defense brigade in areas near the settlements of Stepovoye and Maliye Shcherbaki in the Zaporozhye Region, Sadovoye and Antonovka in the Kherson Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in that frontline area over the past 24 hours amounted to 75 personnel, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, two 152mm D-20 howitzers and a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system, it specified.

In addition, Russian forces destroyed two electronic warfare and electronic reconnaissance stations and an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army, it said.

Russia hammers Ukrainian UAV assembly workshops, mercenaries’ sites over past day​

Russian forces struck Ukrainian UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) assembly workshops and amassment areas of foreign mercenaries over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Operational/tactical aircraft, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces struck the infrastructure of military airfields, workshops assembling attack unmanned aerial vehicles, sites of their storage and preparation for launch and also amassed manpower and military equipment of Ukrainian armed formations and Foreign Legion mercenaries in 138 areas," the ministry said.

Russian air defenses down 100 Ukrainian UAVs, Neptune missile over past day​

Russian air defense forces shot down 100 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and a Neptune missile over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Air defense systems shot down a Neptune long-range missile, two rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and 100 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles," the ministry said.

Overall, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 650 Ukrainian warplanes, 283 helicopters, 38,341 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 surface-to-air missile systems, 19,952 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,504 multiple rocket launchers, 19,932 field artillery guns and mortars and 29,427 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.

Trump suggests Zelensky consider ceding territories – El Pais

Donald Trump has urged Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to abandon territorial claims, according to El Pais

www.rt.com

 

[Evan]

I don't see how they are misleading. They show large holes in multi-storey buildings. I think they're pretty impressive. But the extent of the damage that oreshnik can inflict was never, as I understand it, the point about the missile. The point was, as Putin has said repeatedly, that it can't be shot down. I think most people don't appreciate how significant that is, and tend to think that a new missile's significance depends only on its destructive power.

Yes. As I understand it, the true power of the Oreshnik (besides its being impossible to track and defend) is its speed causes extremely deep penetration, far below ground level. That and the fact that so far, they’ve not yet been demonstrated with any warhead. So far, I believe they’ve just been fitted with the equivalent of a metal “bolt”, which have penetrated targets. Put a warhead on it, and the resulting damage is magnitudes greater. Like clusters of buildings erased big. That place in the photos would look like Gaza after the bulldozers. FWIU

 

[Joe]

Yes. As I understand it, the true power of the Oreshnik (besides its being impossible to track and defend) is its speed causes extremely deep penetration, far below ground level.

That's true for the kinetic "warhead", which are basically chunks of Tugsten metal. Those are "war heads" only because of the speed of the missile. There are conversion charts that show you the equivalent impact energy release of a piece of tungsten moving at hypersonic speeds to kgs of TNT.

That and the fact that so far, they’ve not yet been demonstrated with any warhead.

Like I said, the pieces of tungsten ARE warheads, i.e. they do have significant destructive force on impact equivalent to a certain amount of TNT depending on the speed at impact.

So far, I believe they’ve just been fitted with the equivalent of a metal “bolt”, which have penetrated targets.

Yeah, see above.

Put a warhead on it, and the resulting damage is magnitudes greater. Like clusters of buildings erased big. That place in the photos would look like Gaza after the bulldozers. FWIU

I don't think this is true. If you replaced the tungsten projectiles with the equivalent weight of TNT, you might get around the same explosive power on impact, except with TNT the damage would be more widespread due to the detonation of the explosive, but you would sacrifice the penetrating power of the tungsten.

Someone has estimated that the weight of each tungsten projectile used last month (there were 36 in total) each having the destructive power of a 250lb bomb. That's a lot, but it would still take a lot of Oreshniks to totally destroy a large fortified military base.

Like I said, the significance of Oreshnik is that it "cannot be shot down", that basically means that the missile reaches hypersonic speed soon after launch, which is what prevents it from being shot down, because anti-missile systems have the best chance of shooting down a missile relatively soon after launch when it is moving at relatively slow speed because it is moving against gravity.

 

[mantle]

Being personally very interested in this subject [ Oreshnik ] I have come to understand , that the value of it , if it was ever used in a more wide spread fashion , will be far more than it " cannot be shot down ". The latest detrimental drops on Israel by the Houthis could not be shot down either. They were not Oreshniks .There is nothing that the West has to compete with. It is like an atomic but without radiation and its caliber can be upped to horrendous and inconceivable levels They already warned that this one was but a " demonstration beware". There are lots of theories but its complexity is not understood. Otherwise the West would have one also. The fact is that America and Europe are naked for the coming war.
As with the other weapons that Russia counts on,[ Thermo Baric ] the West offers constructions for playing on a sand box in response. Yes there is nuclear, but even there the Russian Hyper -Sonic delivery cannot not be matched. It is also known that Russia has black projects. This is deduced from provable information cascades vomited by crashed saucers ,Russia has more than ten time zones. but unlike Amerika they are not saying. They do not boast.

 

[Joe]

It is like an atomic but without radiation and its caliber can be upped to horrendous and inconceivable levels They already warned that this one was but a " demonstration beware". There are lots of theories but its complexity is not understood. Otherwise the West would have one also. The fact is that America and Europe are naked for the coming war.

The evidence we have about oreshnik does not support the idea that it is like a nuclear bomb. Putin himself has stressed the most important aspect of it "it can't be shot down" by Western AD systems. He also explicitly referred to the fact that the farther away it is fired from its target, the less powerful it is. Hence the move to station them in Belarus.

 

[iamthatis]

These are satellite images of the impacts of the first use of "Oreshnik". Not as dramatic as some might have expected/projected.

Explainer here

Yuzhmash and Oreshnik Demystified

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On Dec 20th, that blogger has posted an update indicating a different analysis after receiving some new feedback. He includes new photo evidence for his claims on the substack.

Mea Maxima Culpa

My previous analysis was completely wrong

substack.com

After posting the Pleiades images yesterday, multiple people reached out to me to send me evidence that some of the damage in those images predated the Oreshnik strike. I immediately placed an additional order for an earlier pass (October 22nd) that SkyWatch had available.

In the interest of dispelling the invalid analysis I put out yesterday, I will summarize the results of the second, earlier satellite pass I ordered before covering it in-depth in the rest of this article.

All of the damage seen in the November 22nd pass happened prior to the Oreshnik strike on the 21st, and was the result of attacks using conventional Russian standoff weapons. The November 22nd pass shows no new damage from Oreshnik.

The reasons for my faulty analysis, for which I take total responsibility, are as follows:

• I uncritically accepted the anaylsis of others, who said that the Sentinel-2 pass from November 24th showed new damage. It did not – this damage was the result of a strike in July.
• I failed to adequately search for resources in Russian (something I am capable of), which had thoroughly tracked previous strikes on the plant.
• I didn’t want to spend an additional $125 to order an earlier pass from Pleiades. Had I done this right off the bat, this could have been avoided.
• I instead relied on free and publicly available imagery from Google Maps, provided by Maxar. Someone at Maxar has engaged in a painstaking, but sloppy, coverup of the damage caused by previous strikes, patching a 2024 pass with multiple other ones, despite maintaining the 2024 date in the citation of the images. For this reason, I was much more inclined to accept the damage as new, and as having been caused by Oreshnik.
• I failed to consider that the Ukrainians might have not repaired any damage from the previous strikes.

I apologize to everyone who based their own analysis off of mine.

In the remainder of this article, I will elaborate on why I got it wrong, and dig in to the pass from October, which is a superior image to the one from November. From there, I will:

• Cover damage to Yuzhmash which was not visible in the November pass, due to the inferior angle and clarity.
• Conclusively prove that Maxar is editing their imagery by hand to conceal damage at Yuzhmash.

1. Finally, I’ll speculate on what I think might be going on here. There are three possible explanations:
   
   1. Oreshnik completely missed Yuzhmash
   2. Oreshnik hit the plant, but did no damage which is visible in the satellite imagery I ordered
   3. Just like Maxar, Airbus is participating in a coverup of damage to Ukrainian military objects
      
      [...]
      
      Explanations 1 and 2 are possible, but somewhat hard to imagine. It would be very hard to cover up the damage if 36 projectiles traveling at Mach 11 (according to Ukrainian sources!) slammed into random buildings in Dnipro. Similarly, it doesn’t seem to make sense that those projectiles could have hit the plant and done so little damage as for it to be invisible. They were simply moving too fast, and if they were somehow “blanks” with little to no mass, they would have broken up in the atmosphere, as other commentators have pointed out.
      
      I consider explanation 3 the most likely. Some have said that I may simply have been given older images, and offered up the greenery visible in the November pass as proof. I don’t buy this, because Sentinel-2 images from prior years look identical in late November. The November pass isn’t even particularly “green” when you zoom in closely, much of the foliage is clearly brown.
      
      One mysterious detail is that there are not one but three passes from November 21st available from Pleiades. Someone tasked the satellite to make these passes as soon as possible after the strike. There have been none since then, and none in the weeks prior. Is it possible that Pleiades would have done a silent pass before the Oreshnik strike in order to get images of it that could be offered up at a later time as being taken after the strike? This would have required foreknowledge of the strike, which various government officials have confirmed they only had 30 minutes of, and those 30 minutes were in the middle of the night. The imagery can’t be from the previous year, because it includes damage which occurred in the Summer of 2024.
      
      It’s hard to know what to make of all of this. Outside of carefully constructing a photoshopped version of the strike, it’s difficult to imagine how it could have been faked. If that was what happened, ordering the other two passes from that day would be a way to validate it, as it would be nearly impossible to edit three separate passes at different angles and have it all come out consistently.
      
      However, given what we see with Maxar, it is indisputable that western satellite imagery providers are deliberately censoring their products in order to conceal the damage caused by Russian strikes. Someone ordered those patches made. If Maxar is doing it, Airbus is doing it too. The only question is whether they did it in this particular case.

 

[mantle]

Alex Christoforou on the 23rd of December made a statement based on the most recent private information that he received on the Oreshnik weapon.
He says that he was told that it is indeed a new type of explosive and a new type of rocket fuel for the creation of highly charged warheads that produce hyper sonic missile blasts causing utter devastation underground. That indeed the damage caused was full loaded. These are my understandings of what he was told.
I think it is a moot point but the destruction underground appears to have been a mighty destructive storm.

 

[MJF]

The headline of this news is somewhat ahead of events. Only the next court session took place, and not the whole process, but this news shows that freaks exist not only on the Ukropian side, they are everywhere, but the position of the authorities and the military command towards such ugly manifestations is fundamentally different. Personally, I am very glad that it was in the tragic sense of Russell Bentley that the criminals are not covered up, but will be punished according to the law.

В Донецке состоялся суд на убийцами Рассела Бентли

How nice it would be if all the help from the West to the Bandera regime consisted in this. The war would have ended a long time ago.

«Заграница нам поможет!» Вооруженные силы Канады направили на Украину и Гаити «гендерных советников»

Spoiler: Russian spelling

Заголовок этой новости несколько опережает события. Состоялось только очередное заседание суда, а не весь процесс, однако данная новость показывает, что уроды существуют не только на укропской стороне, они есть везде, но принципиально отличается позиция властей и военного командования к таким уродливым проявлениям. Лично я очень рад тому, что именно в трагическом случае с Расселом Бентли преступники не стали покрываться, а будут наказаны по закону.
Как было бы хорошо, если бы вся помощь запада бандеровскому режиму заключалась в этом. Война бы давным-давно закончилась.

These Canadian "gender advisers" seem to be the modern western equivalent of the Soviet political officers who were embedded with Russian military units both during and after World War 2. They were there to ensure that Russian military personnel kept in mind Soviet principles and Marxist-Leninist dogma even whilst they conducted a life and death struggle with Nazi forces. Today, it seems that Ukrainian forces must at all times keep to the forefront of their minds gender equality etc., as these ae the values that you must now be prepared to lay down your life for. What insanity!​

 

[lilies]

I don't see how they are misleading.

Just saw the Sott redaction today.

Update 12/20/24: The analysis in this post is incorrect, none of the visible damage was caused by Oreshnik. I’m leaving it up in an unmodified state for posterity and accountability, but please see this correction article I wrote explaining why I got it wrong:

So the 'meteorologist' expert poster was right. Trees were too green to be of the correct date showing "Oreshnik damage": so just regular war damage, Kalibr, Iskander etc..

5.
FALSE IMAGES suggestion: means this is just regular war damage done since 2022:

Meteorologist
6h


The author probably did not pay attention to the abundantly green trees in the pictures? All November in Ukraine the air temperature was within +7-2 Celsius. Do you know what trees look like in November in Ukraine?

There was wet snow on 11 November Антициклональное масштабное поле сменит мокрый снег: какая погода будет в Украине 12 ноября.

After such weather the frozen leaves just fall to the ground.

This is how the trees looked in Dnipro a month earlier on 19 October

@avtosfera.dnepr auf Instagram: "Мероприятие #caraudicompetition 19/10/24 Часть 2 Больше фото-видео отчёта в телеграм"

You seem to have been deceived by false images from early October 2024.

 

[Ca.]

‘Surge of weapons’: How much Ukraine aid did Biden approve after Trump win?

Fearing new US president will cut help to Kyiv, Biden administration scrambles to send military aid for war with Russia.

www.aljazeera.com

By Al Jazeera Staff Published On 26 Dec 202426 Dec 2024

United States President Joe Biden asked the Department of Defense to rush weapons deliveries to Ukraine after Russia launched a Christmas Day attack on its smaller neighbour’s energy infrastructure.

Biden’s comments on Wednesday come at a time when his administration is scrambling to send military assistance to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20. Here’s a look at what the US has committed to Ukraine since Trump’s election in November, and why Biden is in a rush to get money and supplies over to Ukraine.

What was the Christmas attack on Ukraine?​

On Wednesday, Russia attacked Ukraine with drones and cruise and ballistic missiles. The attack wounded at least six people in Kharkiv and killed one in Dnipropetrovsk, according to local authorities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia “deliberately chose Christmas” to launch an attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“What could be more inhumane?” Zelenskyy asked in an X post on Wednesday.

Ukraine – which previously celebrated Christmas according to the Orthodox calendar, like Russia, on January 7 – has marked it for the past two years during Russia’s war on the country on December 25, like the West.

Keith Kellogg, whom Trump picked to be his special envoy for the Ukraine war, condemned the attack, saying: “Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,” adding that the US is committed to bringing peace to Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1871826731666985172

What did Biden say?​

Biden released a statement on Wednesday condemning Russia’s attack.

“The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid,” the statement said.

The statement added: “In recent months, the United States has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way. I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine.”

This promise is the latest among several that Biden has made since Trump’s election win against Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris. Since then, the Biden administration has scrambled to send military support to Ukraine before Trump takes office.

How much aid has Ukraine received from the US?​

According to a fact sheet published by the White House on December 2, the US has committed $61.4bn in security aid to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war on February 24, 2022.

On December 2, the Biden administration announced a $725m military assistance package with munitions, surface-to-air missile systems, small arms, spare parts and demolition equipment. This was sent from the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), approved by the US Congress.

The US pledged $988m in military aid to Ukraine on December 7. This package included drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which the US had provided to Ukraine earlier. Instead of the PDA, this was sent from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

Then, on December 12, Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled a military aid package to Kyiv worth $500m, comprising HIMARS ammunition, drones and armoured vehicles. This was also sent from the PDA.

How much more military aid could Biden send to Ukraine?​

With Republicans in control of both houses of the new Congress, which takes office at the beginning of the year, Biden, a Democrat, is unlikely to be able to secure approvals for new funding for Ukraine. Trump and many Republicans loyal to him have made clear that they are opposed to what they describe as a “blank cheque” in terms of funding for Ukraine.

Even without additional approvals, Biden still has a kitty of funds his administration plans to dip into to get as much aid to Ukraine as it can before the 82-year-old hands over the keys to the White House to Trump.

As of late November, there was $4bn to $5bn left in the PDA. Even with $1.5bn out of that subsequently committed by Biden, the exiting president has a significant source of money left to try to get to Ukraine.

From August 2022 to December 12 this year, the Biden administration used the PDA 55 times to send assistance to Ukraine.

Additionally, about $2.2bn remains under the USAI for Biden to use.

Why is the Biden administration rushing to send aid to Ukraine?​

Trump has questioned US financial involvement in Ukraine.

During a campaign event in Georgia in September, Trump said: “Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100bn,” citing a made-up statistic.

“We’re stuck in that war unless I’m president,” he said at the rally.

The president-elect has said he wants to bring the Ukraine war to a prompt end, raising concerns that he could cut support to Kyiv once in office.

On December 13, John Kirby, the US national security spokesman said Biden would “continue to provide additional packages right up to the end of this administration”.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1872381079245762582

https://twitter.com/x/status/1872377749920170402

https://twitter.com/x/status/1872376224506630271

https://twitter.com/x/status/1872344913125535912