Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Strongpoint]

A joint statement from the Freedom of Russia Legion, Russian Volunteer Corps, and Siberian Battalion appeals to residents of Bilhorod, urging them to evacuate due to attacks by Putin's forces from the city. The statement accuses Russian forces of targeting peaceful Ukrainian cities from Bilhorod, resulting in civilian casualties. The groups claim to be forced to retaliate against military positions in Bilhorod and also Kursk. They emphasize the need for civilians to leave immediately and call on local authorities to initiate evacuations in Bilhorod and Kursk to prevent further harm to the civilian population.

Source (in Russian) 

*popcorn chewing sounds*

No, I don't expect anything major from the ongoing raid. And no I don't want to see civilian deaths. But I am dying to see some light panic.

[anewaname]

Not really Ukraine but it was here...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

For the record, The Vatican never surrendered. In fact, they owe their independence to the first modern era dictator, Benito Mussolini.

Well, Hitler rebuilt the German economy and Stalin built nice subways...The Italians would have gone in mobs to kill any politician who threatened Vatican city and half their soldiers would have helped. Germany was salivating to plunder it but they never had strong enough control in Italy to do that.

[Lord Shonus]

Looking like Ukrainian drone strikes have hit the catalytic cracking tower at a major Russian refinery. Russia (and the Soviet Union before them) has never had the ability to produce such equipment, I'm 90% sure China doesn't either, and it is specialized enough that it is very difficult to smuggle. That makes it effectively irreplacable, and you need that kind of equipment to make gasoline out of the sludge that makes up the bulk of most Russian oil (to the point that in peacetime it was routine to export their oil to the US and import light sweet crude for their own refineries) with any volume.

Reducing one refinery to semirefined mazut forevermore isn't a killing blow, but it is going to hurt badly.

[Strongpoint]

Looking like Ukrainian drone strikes have hit the catalytic cracking tower at a major Russian refinery. Russia (and the Soviet Union before them) has never had the ability to produce such equipment, I'm 90% sure China doesn't either, and it is specialized enough that it is very difficult to smuggle. That makes it effectively irreplacable, and you need that kind of equipment to make gasoline out of the sludge that makes up the bulk of most Russian oil (to the point that in peacetime it was routine to export their oil to the US and import light sweet crude for their own refineries) with any volume.

Reducing one refinery to semirefined mazut forevermore isn't a killing blow, but it is going to hurt badly.

Relevant Bloomberg article

We have a small campaign against Russia's oil industry. Sadly, Russia manages to shoot down most of our drones but it also makes them spend resources. SAMs aren't exactly cheap. We are also using those strikes to learn which of a myriad of small series drones should receive more funding.

Spoiler: it is quite a zoo (click to show/hide)

Ryazan refinery was hit by Lyutyys, BTW.

[Starver]

(...for some reason, I'm now humming ♪Stop the pigeon... ♪Stop the pigeon... ♪Stop the pigeon... ♪Stop the pigeon... ♪Nab him! Jab him! Tab him! Grab him..! ♪Stop that pigeon now!     )

[EuchreJack]

I note the US Navy is going to spend $1 Billion dollars to build the exact same naval drones that Ukraine designed with crowdfunding.

Don't worry Ukraine: You will probably get a few million dollars out of it, probably.

[Strongpoint]

I note the US Navy is going to spend $1 Billion dollars to build the exact same naval drones that Ukraine designed with crowdfunding.

Don't worry Ukraine: You will probably get a few million dollars out of it, probably.

Hm, source? My Google skills failed me.

But I am absolutely fine with it. I am not even sure that it is entirely our design without some hints from foreign specialists.

I hope that all secret information about them won't appear on a War Thunder discord...

[King Zultan]

If they add them to that game it'll be inevitable, since that seems like the only thing that happens on any forum about war thunder.

[Strongpoint]

The Ukrainian-speaking segment of Twitter has become a cesspool of Russian propaganda that tries to undermine Ukrainian political stability really hard. In my more than 10 years on it, I have never seen anything like that, not during Maidan, not at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Not only it is apparent that they have a large budget but it is so pushed that I am sure that Twitter itself helps them.

[MaxTheFox]

The Ukrainian-speaking segment of Twitter has become a cesspool of Russian propaganda that tries to undermine Ukrainian political stability really hard. In my more than 10 years on it, I have never seen anything like that, not during Maidan, not at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Not only it is apparent that they have a large budget but it is so pushed that I am sure that Twitter itself helps them.

Elon is openly pro-Russian iirc.

[Strongpoint]

Was watching combat footage from Russian villages and got a weird uncanny valley effect, as if I was watching something fake, a movie.

It took me some time to understand why my brain reacts in this way - intact houses and trees. I got used that villages in a war zone have no houses, only vague outlines of them.


____________
And yeah, advance into Russia is continuing. With each hour it looks less like a raid and more like an attempt to create a buffer zone. Siberian battalion gave residents of local villages time until tomorrow morning before they'll start an assault.

[EuchreJack]

Russia election: Arrests for vandalism as ballot boxes targeted in Putin vote...BBC Verify has so far verified footage of six incidents across Russia, including a video showing a woman throwing a petrol bomb near a St Petersburg polling station.

[Strongpoint]

Those people are brave. What they are doing is minor vandalism that should result in a modest fine but I think most of them will go to prison for terrorism or some other ridiculous criminal charges.

___________


I like the new reality of a random Russian oil refinery going boom nearly every morning.

[King Zultan]

Hopefully those acts will be the start of something, and hopefully it'll finally get rid of Putin.

Also how many oil refineries have been hit?

[Strongpoint]

Also how many oil refineries have been hit?

Since the start of the campaign? 10+ but results are varied - some sustained minimal damage, some are likely out of operation for weeks\months.


https://twitter.com/SmartUACat/status/1768885434237460611 - This Twitter user posts the map each time there is a new hit. Note that this map doesn't show all Russian refineries only the largest ones (yellow) or ones that were hit.