War in Ukraine

Foreign fighters fighting for Ukraine are believed to have originally been on the order of 3,000-4,000 people, with almost half of them being defectors from Russia and volunteers from Georgia, Belarus, and other Russian neighbors. The number may currently be down to 1,000-2,000 people. Ukraine originally announced 20,000 foreign fighters, but that was either an exaggeration or a lot of people that did not follow through on their commitment.

If anyone tells you that there are two million troops supplied by 50 nations fighting for Ukraine, they are illiterate morons with a thumb up their ass. Don't disturb them, because it might not be their own thumb--it could be a Russian thumb. Just laugh and shake your head at the stupidity. It's extreme propaganda.

Ukraine was a magnet for foreign fighters. After 2 bruising years, many are disillusioned or dead.

 

A moment of silence, please, for the first North Korean military personnel killed in action on the Russian side of the lines.

Six North Korean soldiers killed on Russian frontline: Reports

 

Lithuania confiscates military goods from Kaliningrad-Moscow trains, gives them to Ukraine (msn.com)

They were tracking munitions, storage, failure rates. Putin not paying for duds, QAQC team just got retired. Read story elsewhere

 

You must mean only the stuff that wasn’t spectacularly blown up the other day. Putin most certainly paid for that.

 

Gazprom falling on hard times

Crisis for Vladimir Putin as financial blow sees Russia issued nightmare warning (msn.com)

The Kremlin-owned energy behemoth Gazprom experienced a dramatic plunge in its North Sea profits last year, due to the double whammy of sanctions and the windfall tax, dealing another significant blow to Vladimir Putin.

Gazprom UK, under the ownership of the Russian government, witnessed its pre-tax profits nosedive from 45 million euros ($50 million) in 2022 to a mere four million ($4.4 million) last year.

The firm shelled out 1.7 million euros ($1.9 million) in dividends to its Russian parent via a Dutch subsidiary, a sharp decrease from 41 million ($45 million) the previous year.
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These figures emerge as a report released this summer by the company's top brass issues an 11-year warning to the Russian tyrant, forecasting that revenues are unlikely to exceed pre-war levels for at least a decade, with gas exports to Europe barely hitting a third of pre-war levels by 2035.