Posted on 02/24/2024 5:59:01 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
2400 new troops or a 3 week supply.
Kremlin snuff box, 04/12/24
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Russia’s ally could be in serious trouble
Israel is probably preparing a serious operation against Iran. This information was provided by sources in the SVR.
“The situation in the Middle East is heating up,” the source commented.
Perhaps there will be a massive blow to the decision-making centers in Tehran. Our military and diplomatic representatives have received special advice due to the escalation in the region.
The interlocutors hint that Iran’s involvement in a full-fledged war could affect military-technical cooperation with Russia. In particular, the supply of missiles and drones may decrease.
““Trump Indicted For Taking More Chick-fil-A Sauces Than He Actually Needed For His Order””
Misdemeanors or felonies?
Makes a difference.
Just read an article saying Trump’s lawyers may ask judge to instruct jury they can vote to convict on misdemeanors instead of felonies as DA is seeking.
DA has the challenge of showing that Trump attempted to cover up a crime with his falsifying business records charge. That is required for a felony, otherwise just a misdemeanor. Although misdemeanors can still get jail time.
From an article yesterday. I’m predicting 3-4 years.
“If former President Donald Trump is convicted on all counts in his New York criminal hush money trial that begins April 15, he could theoretically face more than a decade in prison.
But most legal experts who spoke to USA TODAY said such a dramatic outcome is unlikely. Instead, he would likely be sentenced to something between probation and four years in prison. And he would probably still be out, free to campaign for president as the presumptive or actual 2024 Republican nominee, while his all-but-certain appeal was pending.”
Found guilty is enough to swing many independents back to Biden or stay at home.
Also hos guilt will make it more likely he will be found guilty in his other legal cases.
Predict: life, no parole, max security prison, shanked to death after 2 years.
The DA has flipped the bag man who paid Daniels and McDougal their hush money (Michael Cohen), but that's probably not enough (especially since Cohen has a terrible reputation as a scumbag who will say anything to benefit himself). If Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg flips, Trump is in trouble. He's the guy who paid Cohen, disguising the funds to cover their actual purpose. Weisselberg testified against the Trump Organization after pleading guilty himself, but so far has not testified against Trump.
Kyiv Independent reports:
Reuters: US officials say China aids Russia’s massive military expansion
“China is aiding Russia’s war machine in Ukraine by providing machine tools, weapons technology, and satellite imagery, Reuters reported on April 12, citing U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
China officially declares itself a neutral party to Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, but Washington has continued to sound the alarm on Beijing’s support of Moscow’s defense-industrial expansion efforts.
According to one official, supplies from China are helping Russia launch its “most ambitious defense expansion since the Soviet era and on a faster timeline than we believed possible early on in this conflict.”
Officials said that Russia uses machine tool shipments from China to bolster its production of ballistic missiles, and that Chinese microelectronics are used in the production of Russian missiles, tanks, and aircraft.
The officials said that 90% of Russia’s microelectronics imports in 2023 came from China.
Chinese businesses such as iRay Technology and the North China Research Institute of Electro-Optics also supply Russia with military optics for tanks and armored vehicles, they said.
China also provides Russia with drone engines and officials said that Chinese and Russian firms are working together to manufacture drones within Russia.
Along with these supplies, Chinese businesses may also be furnishing Russia with nitrocellulose, used to make propellants for weapons. The officials also told reporters that U.S. intelligence indicates that Chinia is providing satellite imagery to Russia for use in Ukraine.
“Our view is that one of the most game-changing moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC (People’s Republic of China) to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base,” one official said.
“Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC input.””
Interesting articles:
Is Hezbollah’s Barrage On Israel Prelude To Much Larger Iranian Attack? (Updated)
U.S. authorities have been warning that larger coordinated missile and drone strikes on Israel from Iran and its proxies could be imminent.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/is-hezbollahs-barrage-on-israel-prelude-to-much-larger-iranian-attack
The Latest On The SPY-6 Radar That’s Set To Dominate The Navy’s Future Fleet
We talked with Raytheon’s Scott Spence about the state of the program as classes of ships are setting sail with the radar for the first time.
https://www.twz.com/sea/the-latest-on-the-spy-6-radar-thats-set-to-dominate-the-navys-future-fleet
Our First Look At An Armed-Up Block 70 F-16 Viper
Two of Bahrain’s new Block 70 F-16s are still in the U.S. for testing and one carried missiles, bombs, and other stores on a recent sortie.
https://www.twz.com/air/our-first-look-at-an-armed-up-block-70-f-16-viper
Not entirely sure, but according to the constitution age and citizenship are only requirements to be president, not an especially good look, but Trump could still be president from a prison cell, just can’t vote for himself lol
In case you missed the memo, the Constitution no longer applies in all things, especially when a case involves DJT.
Reporting From Ukraine:
Note: other versions of this report are found elsewhere on FR, but this is guaranteed to be the complete transcript - unlike the others.
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/videos
[ It Started! Russians Deploy 80,000 Elite Troops For The Offensive ]
—
Today, there are a lot of updates from the Siversk direction.
Here, Russians significantly increased the intensity of their assaults after a long pause.
The reason why Russian forces launched the offensive to capture Siversk is the strategic importance of this town. Capturing it would enable them to set the ground for a much broader assault on Kramatorsk - the capital and largest Ukrainian-held city in Donbas.
In the past, Russians halted their attacks on Siversk, after the capture of the Severodonetsk-Lysychansk agglomeration in the summer of 2022 due to lack of forces and subsequent shift of focus to Soledar and Bakhmut.
Ukrainians exploited this opportunity by capturing important tactical elevations around Bilohorivka, solidifying control over the region and stabilizing the front line even more.
At that time, Russians concentrated 23,000 troops in this direction, making it the smallest Russian troop concentration on the whole front.
However, over the last several months, Russian forces deployed a lot of additional reinforcements in the form of Storm-Z penalty battalions, Chechen Akhmat forces, and elite airborne forces. Such a surge in force concentrations indicates that Russians are rapidly prioritizing Siversk over other directions.
The increase in the number of troops was accompanied by a respective increase in frequency and intensity of fighting. The most intense clashes broke out in 3 different regions, more precisely, around Rozdolivka, Vyimka, and Bilohorivka.
In the Rozdolivka tactical area, the main goal of the Russian forces is to advance further into the hills to the northwest of the settlement and use them to assert fire control over the main supply road to Siversk.
If we look at the topographic map, we can see that the road is behind a hill, so if Russians manage to take the hills, they would be able to assert fire control over the road.
However, this is only one out of two roads that supply the Ukrainian Siversk group, and while the process of supplying them would be time-consuming and longer, it would still be possible.
Regardless, Russians are far from reaching this goal, as the Ukrainians are holding tightly onto Rozdolivka and tactical elevations around it.
Beyond Rozdolivka, the Ukrainian defense belt extends westward to a couple of villages, namely, Vasyukivka and Fedorivka. Due to natural obstacles in the form of small rivers, Russian advances towards these villages are extremely complicated.
The reason why such operations are difficult to conduct, is that there is virtually no room for maneuver, so all Russian assaults are inevitably restricted to predictable direct frontal assaults.
On top of that, the main Ukrainian positions are not in Rozdolivka itself, but on the nearby hill to the west, which is almost 200 meters above Russian positions. Such a setting puts Russians at a significant tactical disadvantage for 2 important reasons.
First of all, the Bakhmutivka River is a natural obstacle that complicates potential assaults due to the need to slow down to cross it.
Secondly, the river valley is located in the lowlands, meaning that even if Russian assault units manage to cross it, they would need to fight an uphill battle.
The control over the hills also prevents the front line from completely collapsing, in the case Russian forces manage to overwhelm Ukrainians in Rozdolivka ,with their frontal assaults and take the village.
Ukrainians know this, and for the past year, they have been building formidable fortifications around their firing positions on the hills to establish effective fire control over the region.
That is why, based on the latest updates, Russians had to turn their focus eastwards towards the village of Vyimka.
If we look at the topographic map, we can see that the village and area around the railway embankment are in the lowlands when compared to Russian positions in Berestove.
This would give Russians a significant tactical and also operational advantage because it has the potential to affect the fate of the Siversk salient.
A successful Russian advance along the railway embankment in principle ,will allow Russians to launch a direct assault on Siversk town, especially given that the town is not shielded by any advantageous elevations or obstacles between Vyimka and Siversk.
Moreover, Siversk is a small provincial town without any industrial zones or high-rise buildings that can can be used for defense.
On the other hand, reaching the town would mean that Russians are entering the Ukrainian artillery pocket because the Ukrainians will strike from the tactical elevations to the west of the town on the dominant hills.
This way without a strong presence within the town and the Russians would be forced to engage in lengthy attritional battles uphill.
What would make it even worse for Russians is that Siversk is split in half by a river so the western part of the town would make for formidable defensive positions with fire control from the hills behind.
Lastly when it comes to the Bilohorivka tactical area the main goal of the Russian forces is to establish control over the White Mountain and the hills behind the village.
So far the Russian assaults on the White Mountain turned out to be complete disastrous for the Russians, with high losses in Manpower and equipment.
For this reason, Russians decided to change their approach to assault in the forest to the south of the mountain in hopes of establishing a tactical bridgehead that they could use to launch further assaults to the hill behind the village, and use it to assert fire control over the main supply road to Siversk.
It would also cut off Bilohorivka from its supply line and place Ukrainians in a pocket which Russians could use to force their withdrawal.
Furthermore, the fall of Bilohorivka would not only pose additional pressure on Siversk, but it would also endanger Ukrainian groups in the the forest. Reaching these tactical goals would allow Russians to declare full control of the Luhansk region.
Overall, Russians accumulated large forces for their offensive operations in the Silversk direction and chose their vectors of assault along the lines of mild resistance.
But, Ukrainian forces have prepared for such developments by fortifying their positions on the tactical elevations to prevent any major Russian advances in the area.
However, the whole Siversk offensive might might actually be a faint offensive, since Russians may be trying to divert Ukrainian attention from Chasiv Yar by intensifying their assaults and threatening Siversk.
In spite of the high pressure, Ukrainians in Siversk are holding their ground tightly without additional redeployment of forces.
Kremlin snuff box, 04/13/24
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Putin was pleased with the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, and Shoigu threatened the Americans
On Friday, a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile was carried out from the Kapustin Yar test site in the Astrakhan region. on this The Ministry of Defense has already reported .
It is known that the launch was carried out as part of “state testing of promising missile systems, as well as confirmation of the stability of missiles in service.”
“The results obtained confirm the high reliability of Russian missiles to ensure the strategic security of the Russian Federation. The launch objectives were completed in full,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The successful launch was immediately reported to the President. He was pleased with the stability of our missile system. We also know that Sergei Shoigu called the President.
The Minister of Defense cheerfully reported that the launch went according to plan, and expressed confidence that “now the Americans will get theirs.”
Putin did not respond to this statement, but he liked the rhetoric itself, our sources say. In general, the military is pleased with the results, although they admit that there may have been some difficulties with the launch. We were in a hurry to make it in time for Cosmonautics Day.
Kremlin snuff box, 04/13/24
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
In the Belgorod region, in just one week, 7 FABs fell on peaceful villages
The Russian Aerospace Forces are increasingly using powerful aerial bombs (KAB and FAB of various modifications). In addition to objective successes, there are also problematic issues. In particular, aerial bombs often fall on peaceful Russian cities.
This week, seven such cases are known in the Belgorod region. In the Shebekinsky and Belgorod regions, air bombs fell on peaceful cities.
In one case, a family of four died.
In three cases, bombs fell on the outskirts of villages.
In three more cases, bombs destroyed residential buildings of Russians, but there were no casualties.
The authorities of the Belgorod region appealed to the military with a request to minimize such cases of “ammunition misalignment”, however, given the scaling up of the use of KAB and FAB, the authorities fear that the number of such cases may increase.
“Russians Deploy 80,000 Elite Troops For The Offensive”
RuZZia doesn’t have any elite troops. Just cannon fodder.
Vote next week? Lets Vote.
“After months of delay, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is poised to step formally into the perilous debate over Ukraine aid — an explosive topic that carries high stakes for both the future of Kyiv’s sovereignty and the fate of Johnson’s Speakership.
Since taking the gavel in October, Johnson has vowed to move another round of military help for Ukraine’s beleaguered forces in their fight against Russia. But the issue has taken a back seat to domestic concerns with hard deadlines, including efforts to fund the government and renew Washington’s foreign surveillance powers.
With those priorities in the rearview mirror, Johnson is now shifting gears to tackle a package of emergency foreign aid — including new assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies — that’s expected to hit the floor next week, according to sources in both parties.
“I know there is a commitment from the Speaker to do something on Ukraine next week,” said Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. “
RuZZia doesn’t have any elite troops. Just cannon fodder.
—
Elite cannon fodder.
Discharge petition now has 195 signatures. That is the backup plan if House doesn’t approve Ukraine’s aid.
https://clerk.house.gov/DischargePetition/2024031209?CongressNum=118
“The US has observed Iran moving military assets around internally, including drones and as many as 100 cruise missiles, signaling that it could be preparing for an attack from inside its own territory. The U.S. and is prepared to help intercept any weapons launched at Israel, multiple sources said. “
Consensus seems to be the attack occurs today/tonight. Lots of chess pieces being moved around by everyone in the region. Israel has prepared a significant counter-strike, and multiple US KC-135's constant presence over the Persian Gulf and Iraq in recent days serve Iran notice that the US will support IAF strikes - or US strikes if Iran hits American forces.
Perhaps Iran is going ahead with this strike because they have at least one missile with a operable nuke warhead?
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