- 1510 KWIA
- 14 Tanks
- 20 APVs
- 56 Artillery systems
- 2 MLRS
- 111 UAVs
- 130 Vehicles & Fuel tanks
Don't forget to donate, Ukraine's cause is ours! Support Ukraine!
NOTE: Those of you who do NOT want to allow automatic translation of your comments, please go to your profile page and set it.
Hover over your name at the top right, select edit profile, and you will then find the setting under the language settings heading.
“Russia attacked a military hospital in Kharkiv. Wounded soldiers were being treated there. There are already two dead and 27 injured in the city.”
Update from 08:00 on 30.03.2025 regarding the Russian invasion
A total of 223↗️combat actions were registered during the past day.
#Kharkiv 4
#Kupyansk 6
#Lyman 23↗️💥
#Siverskyi 3
#Kramatorsk 13↗️💥
#Toretsk 19💥
#Pokrovsk 93↗️💥💥💥💥💥
#Novopavlivka 15💥
#Huliaipil 9↗️
#Orikhivsk 8↗️
#Prydniprovsky 2
#Kursk 31↗️💥💥
In the Kramatorsk sector, 13 firefights were registered in the areas of Mayske, Oleksandr-Shultyno, Predtechyno, Bila Hora, near Chasovyi Yar, Stupochky, and Kurdyumivka.
In the Pokrovsk sector, the AFU🇺🇦 stopped 93 attacks from the AFRF🇷🇺 in the areas of Novotoretske, Panteleimonivka, Oleksandropil, Vodiane Druhe, Yelizavetivka, Lysivka, Kotlyne, Udachne, Novosergiivka, Uspenivka, Novooleksandrivka, Sribne, Andriivka, and towards Kotlyarivka.
In the operational zone in the Kursk region, AFU🇺🇦 units stopped 31 attacks from AFRF🇷🇺 in the last 24 hours. Additionally, the enemy carried out 18 air strikes with 23 guided bombs and fired 265 artillery shells at our troops’ positions and settlements, ten of which were from multiple rocket launch systems.
In the past 24 hours, AFU🇺🇦 air forces, drone forces, and artillery targeted five areas with personnel and equipment concentration and a command post belonging to AFRF🇷🇺.
👍
A significant increase, now there are almost as many attacks in Pokrovsk alone as there were along the entire front just over a week ago.
Decent metal slaughter (strv/ afv). Considering the large number (223) of battles/attacks from AFRF🇷🇺, however, predominantly infantry attacks.
Ukraine expects ‘strong response’ from allies after continued Russian strikes, Zelensky says. “We expect a response – a serious one. We are working toward a response. A strong response is urgently needed – above all from the U.S., from Europe, from everyone in the world who has placed their bets on diplomacy. Russia must be forced into peace,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 29. https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-expects-strong-response-from-allies-in-response-to-continued-russian-strikes-zelensky-says
Ukraine has capacity to produce 5 million FPV drones per year, advisor says. “Now, one manufacturer can produce 4,000 such FPV drones per day,” said Alexander Kamyshin, who previously served as the strategic industries minister. https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-can-produce-5-million-drones-per-year-advisor-says
Poland may reinstate mandatory military service amid growing Russian threat. If Poland wants to sustain an adequate number of reserves, the return of mandatory military service is “inevitable,” Operational Commander Maciej Klisz said. https://kyivindependent.com/poland-may-reinstate-mandatory-military-service-amid-growing-russian-threat
“A collection of high-precision strikes by 🇺🇦Ukrainian aviation against 🇷🇺Russian targets using 🇺🇸American and 🇫🇷French high-precision air bombs SDB, JDAM-ER, and AASM”
👊😁
▪️65/111 Shahed UAVs
▪️35 drones suppressed by EW
▪️?/1 ballistic missile.
I have long argued that a significant reason for Russia starting the war right from the beginning (2014 Crimea, then Donbass, and finally also in 2022) was to seize Ukraine’s natural resources.
This has been met with counterarguments that Ukraine has too few resources, or that Russia has so many resources of its own that they do not need more.
I have suggested that it might rather be about denying Ukraine the ability to export to Europe as it would be a direct competitor to Russia, as we would probably prefer to buy from there. I have mainly been thinking about oil and gas. Before Crimea, Exxon, I believe, had started planning extraction as they had obtained the rights to exploit.
Now, Trump has shown great interest in the mineral resources, indicating that they have some value.
Although Zelensky refused to agree to the latest proposal based on other factors such as risking EU membership and not agreeing to repay for the equipment they had received earlier:
“Zelensky rejects mineral agreement: ‘Nothing should risk EU'”
https://omni.se/zelenskyj-ratar-mineralavtal-inget-far-riskera-eu/a/xmEzEB
At the same time, Russia has begun to seize control of the natural resources in the occupied parts (with the help of China):
“40 percent of the country’s natural resources are already under Russian control, equivalent to a value of 126.5 trillion SEK according to the think tank SecDev.
By going through a wealth of data and satellite images, SVT’s investigation shows how Russia has taken control of large parts of Ukraine’s granite, coal, and lithium production, partly with the help of Chinese companies. All three are important for Ukraine’s economy and exports.”
https://omni.se/ryssland-lansar-ukraina-pa-viktiga-mineraler/a/bmbwJd
If the natural resources were not of interest to Russia, they would hardly have started exploiting them in the midst of a raging war?
Sure, one could argue that it is to quickly deplete the resources in case they need to relinquish them, but it still involves investment costs to start, so the only conclusion must still be that it is indeed economically justifiable.
Belarus, compared to Ukraine, has very few natural resources, and it would not surprise me if that is why Putin has let them be instead of incorporating them into Russia.
When Magnus Norell was a guest on Aron Flam’s podcast in 2022, there was a theory that it was about natural resources that China needs and Russia has promised to provide.
Interesting then that it seems to be with the help of China that they have now started to extract the resources.
There might be something to what you’re saying, my thought has been that Russia has poor geographical water positions almost no matter how you look at it, squeezed in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Estonia, a nearly isolated Kaliningrad, previously before Crimea they also had a worse position with the eastern side of the Black Sea, now they “own” the Sea of Azov and are trying to reach Odessa.
The world’s largest country by land area with a crappy beach location for military and holidaymakers, Russia is a natural disaster.
Yes, starting with Crimea was probably more about securing mainly Sevastopol and controlling the waterways than about natural resources, although it was of course a bonus to put a stop to a small extraction Ukraine had started.
I tried to convey the same theories in another blog, but that idea didn’t catch on as it was easier to dismiss the attack by saying that Putin was evil. It was above all oil and gas that caught my interest. Especially the fact that Ukraine had such large reserves so that Russia would become irrelevant for Europe’s energy supply for a long time ahead if these assets could be extracted.
Well, I tried with the same post there, but it lacks nuance. Putin’s evil imperial dreams are the sole cause of the war. Period. 😂
Gaining control over Ukraine is surely the main reason, but the natural resources are definitely of interest.
Russia depends on its export of natural resources and probably sees the advantage of controlling such a large part of those resources.
Besides, if we had bought from Ukraine instead of Russia, Crimea and Donbas contributed to reducing Ukraine’s income, a way to weaken their economy and make it harder for them to defend themselves.
Moreover, the natural resources are something Putin can use internally.
It must be the right mail carrier for the message to be noted and taken seriously in certain places and workplaces.
Yes, unfortunately it’s not entirely uncommon.
One explanation for LW’s attitude may be that he adamantly wants to steer it in a direction to put a stop to all attempts from Russian propaganda to explain Russia’s behavior as logical. Whether it’s about natural resources, NATO threatening Russia, wanting to protect the ethnic Russians in Donbas, etc.
I can see a certain point in that but it feels unnecessary in a forum where there are mainly pro-Ukrainians (even though of course there are many more who read there than those who write).
In a weak moment, I was thinking of recommending Lars W as a lecturer for us, but then realized after about two months into the war that he doesn’t know much, but mostly has a strong opinion and trolls online. Much of what is written by him often comes from various writers at DAILY COS. Nothing wrong with that if it works. I understand that it’s tough to write every day like he has done anyway. I was quickly thrown out of a pointless discussion where a writer who probably could be an alter ego started a nonsense debate. No, there will be no lecture for us. I think we should focus on something more factual. Considering Stephen Kotkin.
My impression is that he probably has a lot of contacts down there through volunteers, etc. and surely also within the Swedish defense, he probably knows much more than just trolling the internet.
I also have a feeling that the most important thing for him is to drive the narrative that he believes best benefits Ukraine. If that’s the case, it’s nothing I’ll hold against him even if it may lead to the image one receives not always being 100% correct.
I can agree that he may be quick to block (and sometimes I don’t understand why at all) but I can understand if he doesn’t want his blog filled with opinions and other things that go against his own. It might have been better if he instead took the time to engage in debate, but he probably doesn’t have the time, and then it’s easiest to just block.
If he were only after maximum visitors and exposure on the website, he would have allowed all sorts of discussions to take place, the fact that he still blocks, I think is a sign of integrity and I respect that.
I’m not very familiar with Stephen Kotkin, but based on his Wiki page, he seems like a good choice.
Russia has in practice already achieved a major goal. The land connection to Crimea and what you are getting at. They have prevented Ukraine from being able to compete for energy supply to Europe. Then Putin probably thought it wouldn’t be so difficult to take Ukraine. I think the timing of the invasion says it all. You don’t start a war in early March in Ukraine. Then the mud season starts in a month. They made a completely crazy assessment based on the echo chamber’s information, i.e. they believe their own propaganda.
Nato was of the same opinion already in 2014.
https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2014/05/27/the-energy-dimensions-of-russias-annexation-of-crimea/index.html
Exactly, unfortunately there are often financial interests at the bottom. The three reasons for war are often pride, fear, and interest. In the case of Russia, it’s a tick in the box for all three for the invasion of Ukraine.
Thank you for the link! I will use it on the other side! 😀
Here is another article, which deals with Russia’s resource grab. Hopefully it can surpass “the other blog” on the right track 😀 https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2019/02/28/as-russia-closes-in-on-crimeas-energy-resources-what-is-next-for-ukraine/
I must admit that even a few weeks ago I underestimated the importance of Crimea economically, but now it has probably become clearer.
Thank you! I will use it too, even though it seems like that discussion has cooled off on the other side now.
I watched a YouTube video in the spring of 2022 where they discussed, among other things, natural resources, so I did some more research on that and came to the conclusion that it could still be quite significant. Not so much because Russia needed more resources, but to deprive them from Ukraine, which could otherwise have become the partner that the EU preferred over Russia.
Now I believe the discussion in this comment field has much more relevance to reality than it has had in a week or so. Therefore, I have refrained from getting involved in it.
Gas and oil are power, tangible weapons. The oil and gas discoveries in UA or in UA’s part of the Black Sea are not to be taken lightly. At least Swedes should know that…
No one involved (US administration, RY administration, or UA administration, or any other bigwigs) is imbecilic. There are rational motives, based on the perspective that side has (which in itself can be as offensive or distasteful as possible). From a distance, one can never be sure what is decisive, primary, or secondary. We also cannot know different long-term purposes, but we can probably conclude that denying Europe UA’s natural resources is a major piece in what is happening. It is not the only one, but it is definitely an important piece.
I like this discussion. Now we are getting to the point. – As WR notes, a discussion that is difficult to have in other forums.
What should also be mentioned is that Trump’s agreement on rare earth metals is pure nonsense. The global market for rare earth metal ore is quite small, about 4 billion dollars. I can recommend Finansavisen.no and Karl Johan Molsnes. The Norwegians are much more geopolitical in their endeavors as they have significant interests in shipping. What then costs and pollutes is the process of the ore. This activity is currently located in China because of cheap coal power and zero environmental considerations. What matters in Ukraine is the gas, coal, and iron ore. Europe has no shale oil and gas deposits, plus in Europe, there is no legislation to conduct such operations. The landowner does not own what is in the ground and generally has zero interest in allowing mining. It takes about 15-17 years before you can start mining in the Western world, 8-9 years in Africa.
https://tv.finansavisen.no/en/watch/2399
Interesting since rare earth metals are hardly worth sacrificing thousands of tanks for.
Does not mention Russian lives as they are not valued so highly by Putin.
Of course, it is difficult to evaluate which grounds have been decisive. It could be, as the other side suggests, that Putin has been mostly driven by his imperial dreams and wants to make Russia great again, but even if that were the case, he has probably been able to use natural resources as more rational arguments and promised the profits to siloviks and oligarchs to get them on board. Although it sounds more logical that he has also seen it as a great advantage. (Internally, towards his own population, he has mostly taken the emotional track and talked about having to save all the poor Russians from the Ukrainian plague.)
Another argument put forward as a reason has been that Russia is suffering from a declining population and incorporating Ukraine would then have been a solution to that. I am doubtful about that since both countries have inverted population pyramids.
Give Russia peace and quiet to prepare for September!
“A ceasefire in Ukraine would allow Russia to reposition its forces and increase the threat to the Baltics, FT reports. Moscow aims to build a 1.5-million-strong army, doubling its troop presence near Finland and the Baltics.”
https://bsky.app/profile/wartranslated.bsky.social/post/3lllgt7lyhs2o
https://www.ft.com/content/9b509d8c-3d59-401e-a57c-e689934ce0bf
Who usually says this 🧐
It was just a reference to you!
USA may not start a war over Greenland, nice to hear that they are at least considering a more peaceful solution…
“President Trump:
“There’s a good possibility it [annexation of Greenland] could be done without military force. I don’t take anything off the table.”
Americans are as usual completely uneducated. There are as many Greenlanders living in Denmark. Does anyone seriously believe in the USA that they will trade away free healthcare, education in Denmark, and access to the job market in Europe for social security and Medicare? The USA is as usual buying into the tale of its own excellence and greatness. Greenland will continue to belong to Denmark in the future. The Danes would probably be willing to let them be independent. It would save about 5-7 billion in the state treasury. It is not certain that there would be a yes vote for continued union if I listen to my Danish colleagues.
Honestly, JD Vance really spoke his mind this week and explained the problem. Greenland must be fortified and defended by the one who has sovereignty.
Yes, it is in line with what he said in Munich, it is starting to become quite obvious how Trump has divided the responsibility. Trump handles domestic and economic issues, JD handles politics towards Europe, and Hegseth is supposed to focus on the real enemy according to the US, China.
What explained the problem? The USA can surely defend Greenland within NATO as much as they want? They had 10,000 soldiers there besides compared to 200 now? By their own choice.
They do not want to pick up the tab for it
Fantastic how the ability to innovate is raised during the current war.
https://bsky.app/profile/maks23.bsky.social/post/3lllfnhu42c
😂😂😂
It’s cumbersome to move around in the northern forests with the… well 😁
When it’s not possible to carry a comfort carrier, one must console oneself with the fact that flying FPV drones is probably difficult too.😀
Stålkulor entered the chat.
Functional sewage systems are not something you can ignore without it being noticed!
“On Russian Telegram: Sewerage in Russia is in the dark ages, despite Putin claiming Russia is a ‘world power.’ Rosstat has acknowledged a lack of access to sewerage for Russians, worse than in African countries.”
“The sanitary and hygienic living conditions of Russians have improved over the past two years, according to the study published by Rosstat, Putin’s propaganda unit. ‘Only’ 13.7% to 18.9% of households use cesspools. By this measure, it’s a terrible country.”
https://bsky.app/profile/beefeaterfella.bsky.social/post/3lllmr5c26k2q
“US was angry that Ukraine sank the cruiser “Moskva” without warning, – NYT. The Americans were surprised that Ukraine had missiles to destroy the cruiser. In addition, such a move caused panic in the Biden administration, they did not plan to allow Ukraine to attack such a powerful symbol of Russian power.”
Yes, then we’ll add it to the list of epic betrayals in the USA.
The johanno1 files
But Biden was so good……and kind!
He of course had his flaws since he was afraid of war. He didn’t want to get involved in the war and was afraid of nuclear weapons, and therefore made some cowardly decisions. However, I still emphasize that it would have been better for Ukraine if the Democrats had won the election, so it is in the election between Biden and Trump that I always prefer Biden/the Democrats.
Now Trump has had enough time to show himself to be better than Biden.
Has he loosened the restrictions to strike deep into Russia? Has he sent long-range ATACMS? Or even better, PrSM?
Has he perhaps supplemented with more than those measly 31 Abrams that Biden sent?
No, instead he temporarily stopped both equipment and intelligence to put pressure on Ukraine. He has humiliated Zelensky and tried to get him to step aside. He is trying to exploit the situation through agreements on natural resources that do not contain any security guarantees at all, and he wants to be paid for the support that was sent while Biden was president.
Before Trump became president, he constantly slandered Zelensky and tried to stop all decisions in Congress about sending aid.
Biden is winning by a landslide over Trump so far.
But please enlighten me if there is anything good that Trump has done that I have missed!
I think you are wrong, it wouldn’t have been better or worse from UA’s point of view. They needed this wake-up call to snap out of their pink stupor. I believe they would have dragged their feet even more.
The Abraham Accord wasn’t that bad, was it? Then RU, together with Iran, ruined everything with the Hamas massacre, which is just awful.
Treason would it perhaps have been if they had stopped Ukraine from playing battleship?
At the beginning of the war, there were thoughts that Putin, as a means of pressure, would threaten Western Europe with nuclear weapons to stop the war. It will be interesting to see if this will be the case in connection with peace negotiations. Warsaw was mentioned, among other things, if the US does not call their bluff, the genie will be out of the bottle for all future considerations regarding the spread of nuclear weapons.
Russia has indeed throughout the war both directly and indirectly threatened with nuclear weapons. Putin has of course not explicitly stated that he will resort to nuclear weapons if he does not get his way on a specific issue, but others in high positions and especially their propaganda media have conveyed the threats so many times that it has almost become a standing joke.
If Putin were to dare to make a direct threat linked to a clear red line (e.g. that Europe sends troops in connection with a ceasefire), it will be interesting to see how it goes.
Their own doctrine says that they can use nuclear weapons if Russia is threatened, but not even when Ukraine entered Russia has anything happened.
Yes, there have been general threats, but not directly targeted with threats of a ready missile for launch. Hopefully, we won’t get to that point. Russia has shown its weakness by not being able to conquer Ukraine. If the West wants to, we can take out all oil and energy infrastructure up to the Ural Mountains with the help of conventional weapons. However, that would mean war. Most war games played at the NATO level end with nuclear weapons.
How will Russia wage war without oil? Now they have pipelines, of course, but still. Even the locomotives largely run on diesel, right? I didn’t find any figures on the exact percentage, but here it says (2021) that they will stop buying diesel locomotives by 2025.
I obviously do not support vandalism, but classifying it as domestic terrorism is ridiculous. The FBI must have more important things to focus on.
“After the nationwide attacks on Tesla cars and Tesla dealerships in the USA, parallel to peaceful protests, the FBI this week classified the attacks as domestic terrorism and has now appointed a special group to investigate the crimes.”
https://omni.se/fbi-ger-sig-efter-tesla-vandaler-regler-kan-skarpas/a/o3Qm6B
Yes, now how was it, being eaten by a shark or burning up sitting on a battery when the boat is sinking. Trump would choose the shark every day of the week before he won the election. Now it sounds different, crazy with Elise Stefanik though that he doesn’t dare send her to the UN. Trump won that district by 20 percent and now it’s enough for the Democrats to just say Elon and they have a majority. The American people will kick out Trump with a bang.
That thing with the shark was of course something he spread because that’s what MAGA wants to hear, when he then won it’s understood that it’s his buddy Musk that counts. That display outside the White House with Tesla cars was downright embarrassing. There must be some within MAGA who are starting to feel deceived. Electric cars are considered almost woke in the USA.
Now I don’t trust those voter polls, it always seems bright for the Democrats until it’s time to choose, then Trump sails up like a jack-in-the-box. Additionally, Musk is spending huge amounts of money to bribe the voters and has probably promised to hand out a couple of million at a meeting where people who have voted get paid to participate. Incredibly that one can so blatantly buy votes without it being stopped.
I hope masses of visitors come to the meeting and then vote the opposite way.
I can guarantee that there will soon be a federal mandate for all authorities to buy Tesla because it is environmentally friendly – wait and see 😀
Nothing to laugh at, it will probably be like that.
They have already placed an order for Cybertrucks for 400 million USD (there was a budget to buy cars for 400,000 but of course that was changed). https://youtu.be/hycoCYenXls?si=Y839o8AGkJ0NJqv0&t=982
Furthermore, they are also breaking a contract with a supplier and replacing them with Starlink.
https://youtu.be/hycoCYenXls?si=ayAvvNq_2LMuBWcR&t=1436
Feel free to watch the entire movie to gain insight into the corruption Trump was involved in during his first six weeks.
It would be sick fun and tragic at the same time, closing the circle. We lie, we know that you lie, and we lie and we know that you know that we lie. This will not end beautifully in the USA. Now Europe must rise from its slumber of the past 35 years and start projecting power and clarity. Beginning to challenge the dollar as a reserve currency. Americans know they have the ultimate weapon, controlling the money supply of the dollar. The Saudis and the Chinese no longer want to buy US bonds. They will not do that now when Trump has decided to drive the dollar down. This will lead to higher oil prices as the Saudis do not want to pump oil and exchange it for dollars if it increases too quickly. Then it remains to get sour oil from Russia, which the USA needs for its refineries, about 4 million barrels a day. Today they pump light and sweet. They must export that. It could be fun this fall for Trump to explain why the USA should have a 25% tariff on oil, steel, aluminum, and fertilizers, but get nothing from Russia.
However, you can’t have it all. If you are to be a reserve currency, you can’t seize the Russian reserve as has been done. I don’t think the EUR is liquid enough either. But we should try, of course. Otherwise, physical gold could be an alternative. Or maybe there is no global standard for currency reserves. It’s not strictly necessary, is it?
There are probably two features one needs:
1. Sell a country’s goods and receive a currency in return that can actually be used to buy what one wants.
2. Save currency for a rainy day and receive coupon interest in the meantime.
They have not seized them, they have frozen them. Whatever is turned is the yield but the nominal value remains.
If the teacher confiscates your mobile phone at school, you may get it back when the day is over…
The thing is that countries see that one cannot dispose of their Euros as they wish if they have saved them in Europe. It is doubtful if even Turkey will be so eager to have a European currency reserve.
It would be fun if they were sent to Minnesota, Michigan, and New York, where the maple leaves in Ontario control a kill switch for their power grid.
“Ryssar flyttar luftvärn, störutrustning från Krim till Cherson oblast, partisankälla. Rörelsen ATESH tillskriver de höga ryska förlusterna, som resulterade i överföring av utrustning, till lokalbefolkningen som delar koordinaterna för ryska mål med Ukraina.”
If you are to believe the NY Times, a whole bunch of conspiracies that we considered to be true were confirmed.
Especially Kherson 2022.
https://x.com/friaukraina/status/1906317568425550148?s=46&t=Vah3JXV31B9lXwZOK5gF7w
Meh… Just like my game plan with an attack down to Mariupol and bombing the bridge, isolating and starving them out.
– Chief of Defense Zaluzjnyj, together with the British, advocated for attacking in the Zaporizhzhia region down towards the Sea of Azov, thus isolating the Russians in Crimea.
Purely tactical, Melitopol was completely right, then maybe Bakmut would have fallen earlier, difficult to assess the moral effect of that in Ukraine. War is also politics, internal and external.
American top military officials became angry, surprised, and panicked when Ukraine sank the Russian prestige ship Moscow in the Black Sea during the spring of 2022.
The Americans are said to have discovered the incident on their radar screens, upon which they said, “Oh, that’s Moscow!” – Good Lord.
Thank you very much. Goodbye! replied the Ukrainians.
https://omni.se/a/630v4L
High-level comedy
Hmm, rather get the impression that it was actually the USA trying to get Ukraine to advance faster towards Kherson with the goal of reaching Crimea?
Admittedly, the White House got a little nervous but there is no indication at all that they actually asked Ukraine to stop or actually let the Russians flee. Instead, it seems to be Ukraine that constantly expected tougher resistance than they actually encountered:
“To give the Russian president an incentive to negotiate a deal, the official explained, the Ukrainians would have to put pressure on Crimea. To do so, though, could push him to contemplate doing “something desperate.”
“To protect their fleeing forces, Russian commanders left behind small detachments of troops. General Donahue advised General Tarnavskyi to destroy or bypass them and focus on the primary objective — the corps. But whenever the Ukrainians encountered a detachment, they stopped in their tracks, assuming a larger force lay in wait.
General Donahue told him that satellite imagery showed Ukrainian forces blocked by just one or two Russian tanks, according to Pentagon officials. But unable to see the same satellite images, the Ukrainian commander hesitated, wary of sending his forces forward.
To get the Ukrainians moving, Task Force Dragon sent points of interest, and M777 operators destroyed the tanks with Excalibur missiles — time-consuming steps repeated whenever the Ukrainians encountered a Russian detachment.
The Ukrainians would still recapture Kherson and clear the Dnipro’s west bank. But the offensive halted there. The Ukrainians, short on ammunition, would not cross the Dnipro. They would not, as the Ukrainians had hoped and the Russians feared, advance toward Crimea.”
Forgot this one:
“Still the Ukrainians were in a celebratory mood, and on his next Wiesbaden trip, General Zabrodskyi presented General Donahue with a “combat souvenir”: a tactical vest that had belonged to a Russian soldier whose comrades were already marching east to what would become the crucible of 2023 — a place called Bakhmut.”
Don’t you read about the offensive Kherson Dnieper western (right) shore there?
So not the offensive that Zalizhny was denied?
Ah, I thought you meant what you used to write about how the USA held back Ukraine at Kherson so that there was never any real operation, giving the Russians time to escape in peace?
Which part do you mean relates to Kherson and Zaluzhny being stopped?
Do you mean his plan to instead go via Zaporizhzhia down towards Melitopol?
“Vid sådana tillfällen skulle tjänstemän i Biden-administrationen skämtsamt säga att de visste mer om vad ryssarna planerade genom att spionera på dem än om vad deras ukrainska partners planerade.” 😀
“Ukrainarna, mindes han, var skräckslagna att de också skulle överges. De ringde hela tiden och ville veta om Amerika skulle hålla fast vid kursen, och frågade: “Vad kommer att hända om Republikanerna vinner kongressen? Vad kommer att hända om President Trump vinner?”
Han sa alltid till dem att behålla hoppet, sa han. Ändå tillade han, “Jag hade fingrarna korsade bakom ryggen, för jag visste verkligen inte längre.”
Mr. Trump vann, och rädslan rusade in.
Under sina sista, lammande veckor gjorde Mr. Biden en rad drag för att hålla fast vid kursen, åtminstone för tillfället, och stärka sitt Ukrainaprojekt.
Han korsade sin sista röda linje — utvidgade ops-rutan för att tillåta ATACMS- och brittiska Storm Shadow-attacker mot Ryssland — efter att Nordkorea skickat tusentals trupper för att hjälpa ryssarna att driva ut ukrainarna från Kursk.”
Must say that it was a highly interesting article. It does feel USA-biased since it points out many situations where one thinks that Ukraine did wrong but at the same time it seems that the Ukrainians eventually trusted the Americans and realized that their help had been valuable.
(By the whole article in NYT and not the summary in Johan No.1’s link.)
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/varlden/trump-rasar-mot-putin-forbannad/
More nonsense from Trump, the oil will come through anyway. Payment is received through agreements on the exchange of products or precious metals between China and Russia, previously the payment flows went through UAE dirham but Biden shut that down. Trump threatening with tariffs against a country he doesn’t trade with or believe in. He thinks he can pressure India and China with even more tariffs, which is a bit nonsensical. He believes he possesses a divine weapon in the form of the American consumer. I don’t think they are willing to pay Trump’s tax on everything they buy for many weeks before the lid blows.
Still think it’s positive if he would actually get angry. Would rather have thought that he would take Putin’s move towards Ukraine and then pressure them if they didn’t do as Putin wanted.
Secondary sanctions have partly worked when they targeted individual oil tankers or companies so it can probably have an impact. The USA is a much bigger market than Russia for China and India. Here tariffs could actually be the right way after all!
(Now he also threatened all countries trading with Venezuela with the same thing but nothing has happened there yet.)
That Putin would provoke Trump was probably a best-case scenario that we speculated about before he became president, that it would make him go all in in Ukraine. He may have noticed that he has angered many in the USA by doing Putin’s bidding so maybe it will end now when he realizes that Putin is uncooperative and keeps making new demands all the time.
We thought maybe something could happen when they published the nude photos but he never took the bait. 😀
There will not be any more support from the USA to Ukraine. Monetary support, that is, not after what DODGE is doing in the USA. There will be an outcry.
There you have a point, of course! Although Trump is very good at doing as he pleases regardless of what others think, he might actually get upset, maybe things will start to move (yes, I know I’m just grasping at straws).
It will be up to Europe and a few others to take care of it. When Trump realizes that Putin doesn’t care, there might be some sanctions and then he will stubbornly announce that the USA is withdrawing, he just wanted to help, after all, it’s Europe’s problem and if the parties don’t want peace, then so be it. Or something like that.
Suddenly uncertain who is the master and the dog on the leash that ties together Trump and Putin 😮
😂
401k, that’s what people are starting to talk about in the USA. Retirement savings are important as they create a sense of security for Americans. It has decreased significantly since DJT came to power.
I refrain from routinely criticizing everything that the Trump gang does or doesn’t do. I think they are doing well domestically even though they have lost their way in foreign policy. Republicans know nothing about foreign policy but are good at making deals. And they are that typically American optimistic. And they are doers. I hope the Democrats can reform their party and remove the postmodern elements and return to the liberal classic that existed before. We are all liberals.
But today’s Rep. feels more like a flock of nationalists with blinders on than the patriots who loved their country with its flaws and shortcomings, as we have seen before.
They have gone astray, but it didn’t feel as dangerous, just very offended and anxious.
“There’s still a lot of other bodies in that pit. And if they reveal where Russell Bentley’s remains are, a lot of other bodies will be found. And nobody wants that.” Russian Z-propagandist Tatyana Montyan has admitted that the Russian army commits atrocities in Donetsk: local residents are kidnapped & killed en masse, their bodies are dumped in mine pits so that they will never be found. According to her, this situation came to light after the Russian military kidnapped & killed American Russell Bentley (“Texas”) last year, who came to Donbas to fight for “Russian peace.” [Link to source](https://bsky.app/profile/antongerashchenko.bsky.social/post/3llmbbhy7yk2v)
Barbarians. 💀 That is one of the reasons why Russia will never agree to return land to Ukraine, because then it will become obvious to the world how they have behaved.
They should be bombed out of Ukraine week 2 Dresden style.
Putin is not interested in natural resources.
The elite probably thought it would be a quick smash-and-grab so natural resources were a part of it. They had envisioned the whole country.
Ukraine was a springboard for further expansion as well, but they got stuck.
Trump is using the same aggressive rhetoric that has worked so well for Putin, by the way.
If nothing ever has consequences, then that’s probably the natural progression.
I probably believe the same as you there, because for Putin it’s probably enough to tie Ukraine to Russia, like Belarus which is the main target.
One step along the way was probably to deprive Ukraine of natural resources in 2014, in order to reduce their income and starve them out, so that the subsequent takeover of power would go more smoothly.
Speaking of Belarus, the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons (mock-ups) was probably also a way to keep Belarus in check, in case of unrest, it’s just a matter of crossing the border to protect the nuclear weapons.
If anyone has doubted his ambition to stay in office:
“Donald Trump does not rule out that he plans to try to remain as president even after the next election.
In an interview with NBC, Trump says he is not joking.
– There are ways to do it.”
https://omni.se/trump-antyder-att-han-vill-sitta-kvar-langre-an-vad-som-tillats-finns-metoder/a/rP1y7e
He can do like Kim Il-Sung, stay in power beyond his lifetime.
😀 When a lifetime is not enough
So all this wildly entertaining image material that is flooding now convinces me that Trump will not succeed in winning the people’s trust. Maybe he can stay in power with force and tricks, like Saddam Hussein or Putin. But he will never be loved like Kim Jong Un 😀
Is this what fly fishing is?
“Like a fly caught in a spider web”
https://x.com/Archer83Able/status/1906397086238589199
“Modern Russia – Corpses of Russian soldiers sent by postal service…”
“Ukrainska militären från den 72:a mekaniserade brigaden demonstrerade avvisandet av den 🇷🇺ryska offensiven i riktning mot Pokrovsk”
“Rubio confirmed that the US halted a program tracking over 30,000 Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. The Conflict Observatory, a US-funded initiative that monitored forced deportation of Ukrainian children, has been shut down under the Trump administration.”
The article in NYT for non-subscribers
Interesting read!
https://web.archive.org/web/20250330021832/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/29/world/europe/us-ukraine-military-war-wiesbaden.html
Recommended!
Hmm, what were they thinking now?
“Denmark plans to purchase more 🇺🇸American F-35A fighters”
https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3llntt7edvc24
😄
“The President Of Belgorod and Kursk Oblast of Russia 🤗🤭”
https://bsky.app/profile/meanwhileua.bsky.social/post/3llntodywg42s
Today’s Russian?
“Russian VKS pilots reportedly dropped a guided bomb on a cemetery in the village of Ivanovskaya Lisitsa, Belgorod region.”
https://bsky.app/profile/noelreports.com/post/3llntkxsg5k2k
“The 🇺🇦Combined Rifle Brigade repelled the 🇷🇺Russian offensive in the Pokrovsk direction”
https://bsky.app/profile/militarynewsua.bsky.social/post/3llnt7r7yj224