War in Ukraine

55K Ukrainians died in June. Che gator is cool with it.

 

The Russophobes on this thread don’t give a fig about the Ukrainian people. All they care about is seeing a few Russians killed along the way to the ruination of the U.S. proxy Ukraine.

 

Thorough debunkings of wholly fabricated Russian casualty and equipment losses estimates …

SITREP 7/19/24: West Searches for New Deflection in Russian "Barrel Crisis"

 

Word salad of idiocy. Keep it comimg

 

losing half their Black Sea fleet was intentional?

 

Russia is crying about not being able to send oil to Hungary and Slovakia because Ukraine shut down the pipeline. In the same breath, they say it's not their fault, hinting that it's Ukraine fault, and Hungary and Slovakia should blame Ukraine. Apparently, the invasion had nothing to do with this action by Ukraine.

Kremlin: Interruptions in Russian oil transit via Ukraine a 'crisis' for buyers

 

Slovakia whines that they are not getting their Russian oil. (Maybe they should do more to support Ukraine in this war, and Ukraine might cooperate.)

Slovak PM blasts Ukraine's Lukoil sanctions as oil flow stops

 

If only there were other petroleum-producing countries who could meet their needs while not invading their neighbors. What a conundrum for Hungary and Slovakia.

 

Why is Ukraine still allowing any Russian oil and gas to flow?

 

I think Europe has likely made aid contingent on receiving their oil and gas supplies. Surprising that it has not really been mentioned before. Maybe when Germany cuts its aid in half next year, Ukraine will cut their oil in half.

 

Repositioning much of the Black Sea Fleet was intentional.

 

It was not only intentional, it was necessary. Because they were losing ships left and right. If Russia wanted to continue to have a Black Sea Fleet, they had to re-position it.

If you want to be accurate, your answer is only half right. Russia only re-positioned half of its Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine re-positioned the other half. (On the bottom of the Black Sea. And yes, that was also intentional.) It will be interesting to see if Russia has any ships left in the Black Sea a week after the F-16's start flying sorties for Ukraine. If Ukraine wanted to be cute, they could also start sinking Russia's navy in the Baltic. Russia should start re-positioning their Baltic fleet as far away as possible from Ukraine, maybe off the coast of Alaska.

 

The U.S. is keeping Russia on its toes with B-52's flying towards the Russian border, and then changing direction at the last minute. Probably causing Putin to lose some sleep, and maybe distracting Russia's air defenses as Ukraine gets ready to unleash F-16's on Russia.

Russia says it scrambled fighter jets to intercept 2 US B-52H Stratofortress bombers approaching the Russian border

 

I’ve never heard crickets chirp so loud in a thread since Zelenskyy publicly praised his conversation with Trump. Mods could give the forum a little more flare: Too Hot for Swamp Gas - Where Narratives Come to Die.

 

this story make me long for this kind of patriotism at home. It shouldn't take a war of aggression to bring it out.

In celebration of a national holiday, they release a flag lifted by balloons into winds that takes it over enemy position who promptly fired on it giving up their positions.

Russia Fired on Floating Ukraine Flag, Revealed Position, Got Attacked - Business Insider

Russian soldiers accidentally revealed their positions after they tried to shoot down a Ukrainian flag suspended from balloons flying over occupied territory, a Ukrainian official said.

The large flag, attached to dozens of helium balloons, was released from the Ukrainian-controlled town of Avdiyivka on Sunday by the military.

The launch was to commemorate the 245th anniversary of the city's founding, Vitalii Barabash, the head of the Avdiivka city military administration, said.

Barabash told national television the flag eventually flew over the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, where Russian soldiers attempted to shoot it down, The Kyiv Independent reported.

 

Russian soldiers 'killed after eating poisoned watermelons' (msn.com)

At least a dozen Russian soldiers have reportedly died and another 30 are said to have been hospitalised after eating watermelons poisoned by Ukrainian resistance fighters in an occupied city.

Putin's troops based in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol received the melons from unwitting Russian locals, who received them from the city's partisan groups, according to local media reports.

 

Hungary hurting without Russian oil...not sure how to feel about this. They have had more than enough Ime to arrange for alternative sources

Hungary faces energy crisis, after Ukraine cuts off Russian oil deliveries (msn.com)

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned that a durable solution is urgently needed following Ukraine's decision to cut off oil deliveries from Russia’s Lukoil, causing a significant disruption to Hungary's oil supply. Szijjarto, speaking to reporters in Budapest, stated that while temporary measures have stabilised the situation, these stopgaps are insufficient even for the medium term. 'Hungary and Slovakia’s oil security is at risk,' he said, highlighting the critical nature of the supply chain disruption caused by Ukraine’s decision.

Ukraine’s recent sanctions have barred Lukoil from using the country for transit, affecting both Hungary and Slovakia, which together receive 2mn tonnes of crude oil annually from Lukoil. The Russian oil giant accounts for half of the supply on the Druzhba pipeline, a crucial artery for eastern Europe’s oil supply.

While other countries have successfully weaned themselves off Russian oil and gas, Hungary remains 70% dependent on Russia for its energy supplies, most of which are delivered using the old Soviet-era pipeline infrastructure. According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air think tank, Hungary spent almost a quarter of a billion euros on Russian crude and gas in April this year alone, Politico reports. Russia earned an estimated $180bn from oil exports in 2023, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).

The supply halt has placed Hungary and Slovakia in a precarious position, prompting both nations to plan to raise the issue at the upcoming EU foreign ministers’ meeting on July 22. Hungary is already warning of an energy crisis if it cannot find alternative supplies of energy – a logistical headache, given Hungary’s distance from the seas that would allow it to import oil or LNG from other suppliers.

 

Losing ships left and right isn’t quite accurate. A ship sunk in early 2022 and we still don’t know why. And a submarine was damaged in 2023, while in dry dock, and has been repaired.

Interestingly, China and Russia just conducted a naval exercise off the coast of Alaska.