Putin says he is ready to meet with Trump to calmly discuss and search for solutions to today’s pressing issues.
🔗 Full transcript: https://t.co/xB091Djzve pic.twitter.com/jguc5UYhTL— Putin Direct (@PutinDirect) January 25, 2025
Posted on 02/24/2024 5:59:01 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When a vehicle is captured and then lost in service with its new owners, it is only added as a loss of the original operator to avoid double listings. When the origin of a piece of equipment can't be established, it's not included in the list. The Soviet flag is used when the equipment in question was produced prior to 1991. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.
(Excerpt) Read more at oryxspioenkop.com ...
North Korea appears to be using its alliance with Russia to leverage the war in Ukraine as a testing ground to refine its missile technology and broader military capabilities. Reuters, citing two Ukrainian military-affiliated sources, reported on February 6 that North Korean ballistic missiles fired by Russian forces since December 2024 have shown significantly improved accuracy.[19] These North Korean missiles, previously accurate within 1 to 3 kilometers, can now strike within 50 to 100 meters of their intended targets. One Ukrainian source noted that Russia has launched over 20 North Korean missiles in recent weeks, all demonstrating enhanced precision. Reuters’ sources speculated that North Korea may have upgraded the navigation systems of its missiles, incorporated new steering mechanisms, or received improved targeting data and guidance components from Russia, although the exact modifications remain unclear. The North Korean missiles not only serve to bolster Russia's arsenal but also likely allow North Korea to refine its capabilities for possible future military operations elsewhere. Other Russian allies, such as Iran, likely can improve their strike systems’ performance by leveraging Russia's lessons learned from operations in Ukraine.
Russian milbloggers complained on February 6 that Russian personnel first mobilized during the Fall 2022 partial reserve call up have low morale. A milblogger complained that allowing Russian mobilized personnel to take temporary leave would improve their morale and claimed that Russia has enough contract personnel to completely demobilize these personnel but that Russia will not demobilize these troops until after the war.[85] A second milblogger and former Storm-Z instructor disagreed, claiming that the Russian military command wants to get rid of all mobilized personnel in costly, infantry assaults in Ukraine.[86] The second milblogger claimed that the Russian “Dnepr” and Southern groupings of forces ordered frontline commanders to “agitate” these personnel to persuade them to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) to inflate recruitment numbers and avoid paying mobilized personnel for injuries and deaths.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-february-6-2025
Putin says he is ready to meet with Trump to calmly discuss and search for solutions to today’s pressing issues.
🔗 Full transcript: https://t.co/xB091Djzve pic.twitter.com/jguc5UYhTL— Putin Direct (@PutinDirect) January 25, 2025
The situation in Kursk Oblast has worsened, pressure on Russia is growing. The Kremlin has promised to deal with the Ministry of Defense and the lies about what is happening at the front
We are forced to confirm what many of our colleagues have written : the enemy has advanced and improved its positions in Kursk Oblast. “The enemy has succeeded in unexpected actions that we were not prepared for, there is advancement. There are serious losses, both on our side and on theirs.
Work is underway to eliminate the threat, certain personnel decisions have been made. Many believe that the liberation of Kursk Oblast has been postponed, but I would not make hasty conclusions yet,” a source in the Ministry of Defense told us. We will not disclose the details, the situation is too complicated for the enemy to know the details. But we do not understand why the Ministry of Defense lied on Thursday about all attacks being repelled, and we are smashing the Ukrainian army in Kursk Oblast. And then lied again - this time on Friday. How many times have they lied, and it has never led to anything good. And so it is now. According to our data, the information from the Ministry of Defense confused the military in one of the areas where the enemy attacked. As a result, we have more than ten dead there , the Armed Forces of Ukraine “simply shot the guys who did not expect the attack,” claims an officer who is currently in the Kursk region. A source in the Kremlin pointed to another alarming piece of news that appeared almost simultaneously with the enemy attack in the Kursk region. “Trump's special envoy Kellogg threatens Russia with tougher sanctions. This is happening against the backdrop of the enemy troops becoming more active and our small, but defeat in the Kursk region. I am afraid that the Kiev regime and its allies have decided to seriously put pressure on us in several directions. To persuade us to negotiate on terms favorable to them. This is bad news. But we will decide how to respond. This is currently being discussed,” the channel's interlocutor emphasized. He also promised to deal with “the lies of certain characters in the Ministry of Defense, as a result of which our guys are dying.” And he refused to answer the question of whether current events mean that negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis and the end of the SVO are a matter of the near future. As a number of our sources in the Presidential Administration, the government and among the military say. The Kremlin snuffbox
Good proposal, it will increase the labor shortage.
Wow 🍈 has gone off the deep end😂
Boris Johnson, British fraud, liar and Warmonger. 60 years old. Alive.
James Wilton, British Student 18 years old. Dead, killed in Ukraine.
Cause and effect. pic.twitter.com/61YgTtfIjw— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) February 7, 2025
Mishustin reported to Putin that Russia's economy grew by 4.1% in 2024
The growth rate of the Russian economy in 2024 turned out to be higher than the expectations of Russian authorities and analysts, as well as international organizations.
Who was most accurate in their… pic.twitter.com/dlRT4sNd7S— East_Calling (@East_Calling) February 7, 2025
It is a waste 🍈, Putin should have not started this war.
The explanation is relatively simple and straightforward, though we don't have details:
As for outright graft & corruption -- one can easily suspect it, especially in USAID money (circa $29 billion), but so far there's no actual evidence that US support did not go for its intended purposes.
The Russian government has approved new rules for writing off part of the budget loans provided to the regions, Kommersant reports. Within the framework of this initiative, it is planned to “conditionally forgive” two-thirds of the debt accumulated by March 1, 2024. According to the Finance Ministry, in the period from 2025 to 2029, the regions will be able to free up 1.1 trillion rubles.
To increase financial discipline, the government has set a number of restrictions. Regions are required to maintain a budget deficit of no more than 10% of their own revenues, and also limit their debt on market borrowings to 25%. In addition, commercial loans can only be attracted at a rate not exceeding the key rate (currently 21%) plus 3.5 percentage points.
If the government prints new money and gives it to the regions, it will increase the money supply. This has the same effect, i.e. the value of the Rubble will decrease.
on the other hand:
In January 2025, the total volume of issued consumer loans (mortgages, cash loans, car loans and POS loans) amounted to 441 billion rubles, the lowest result since April 2022. This follows from Frank RG data, which Kommersant has reviewed. In annual terms, the indicator decreased by 47%. Moreover, this result is the lowest for the first month of the year since 2017.
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/7481021
It will reduce the money supply.
I don’t have the full picture, we’ll see in a few weeks.
Does (could) the fact that much of what we send Ukraine lands in Poland before it is forwarded to Ukraine have any influence on Ukraine’s perception of how much it actually has received from us?
It is interesting how much this war resembles what happened with the Spanish Civil War in the second half of the 1930s. Two major parties, Germany and Russia, testing their war marteriel, tactics, and propaganda against each other. Volunteers from the West, US and UK, fighting and dying. Testing the effect of massive destruction of cities and civilian populations, Guernica and Mariupol. Rebels in Donbas and Luhansk, like those in Spain’s Basque area fighting over language issues and treating this as a civil war. Like any civil war, including our own in 1861-5, especially high casualty rates prevail.
So far this war does not have its Hemingway, I hope it never does. Good writing can make warfare seem too attractive and exciting. I hope Russia pulls up stakes and goes home before things get even worse for the suffering Ukranian, Russian, and Nork troops being shot, bombed and burned to death, not to mention the deadly potential for the rest of us.
https://x.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1887870168551801129
A thread on the events in Kursk (and other border areas). After yesterday's quick advance of the AFU in Kursk region, Russia's 11th brigade commander Pavel Filatyev was 'dismissed'.
https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1887770196925911523
https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1887863322508235127
It is more cost effective to take money from Russia, than to give money to Ukraine. What will that look like, when done at Trump speed? Looks like we will find out.
Kyiv Independent reports today:
“U.S. President Donald Trump is prepared to double down on the sanctions against Russia to pressure the Kremlin into ending its war against Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, told The New York Post in an interview published on Feb. 6.
According to Kellogg, current U.S. sanctions on Russia, particularly those targeting its energy sector, amount to a “3 on a 10-point scale” regarding economic pressure. He argued there is significant room to strengthen them further.
“You could really increase the sanctions — especially the latest sanctions (targeting oil production and exports),” Kellogg said. “It’s opened the aperture way high to do something.”
He added that Trump has already gathered his national security team, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to discuss a coordinated strategy to end the war…
…Kellogg emphasized that Trump’s administration is focused on a “holistic approach” to ending the war, combining support for Ukraine with increased pressure on Russia.
Trump’s special envoy is expected to visit Ukraine later this month for talks with Ukrainian officials, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak said on Feb. 7.”
No numbers out of Russia can be taken at face value.
All are manipulated and distorted to support the regime's narratives.
However, even if we accept Russian claims of 4.1% growth, that is a gross number, not net of inflation.
If we subtract a realistic estimate of Russia's inflation -- 15% in 2024 -- the net is a decline in GDP by 10.9%.
Further, it's well worth noticing that all of Russia's GDP increase came from defense spending, which is now roughly 40% of Russia's budget and around 15% of GDP.
This means, in nominal terms, Russia's defense spending comes to roughly $300 billion.
However, in Purchase Price Parity (PPP) terms, that makes Russia's defense spending over $1 trillion per year.
Remember, PPP only looks at costs, not values.
So, to pick an example, a Russian T-90 tank may be valued only 1/3 as much as a US M-1 Abrams tank, but for PPP purposes, they are costed as the same.
That's how PPP can equate Russia's annual defense spending today as equivalent to US defense spending.
President Trump has demanded that Europeans increase their defense spending from today's circa 2% up to 5%.
The US is currently somewhere north of 3% and we should also aim for 5%.
If the US and our allies all reached 5% on defense spending, the total would be circa $4 trillion per year -- more than enough to dwarf anything Russia, China, Iran & NoKo could even think of matching.
The US share of that total would be around 38%.
Peace through strength.
Weakness invites more aggression.
Ukraine Launches New Offensive Push In Russia’s Kursk Region
While the objectives remain unclear at the moment, the move comes ahead of major meetings to discuss the future of the war.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/ukraine-launches-new-offensive-push-in-russias-kursk-region
—
First Mirage 2000 Fighter Has Arrived In Ukraine
Less than a year after the transfer was announced, the first of the French-made delta-wing jets has now arrived in Ukraine.
https://www.twz.com/air/first-mirage-2000-fighter-has-arrived-in-ukraine
Reporting From Ukraine:
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/videos
Reporting From Ukraine Uncensored Combat Footage (from this and past Reports) is found on Telegram:
https://t.me/RFUEnglish or @RFUEnglish
[ You need to have the Telegram app to view the larger videos. ]
The complete transcript.
—
[ Urban Hell: Ukrainian Raids Stop Russian Breakthrough ]
Today [ Feb 06, 8 pm ], there is interesting news from Toretsk.
Here, as Russian forces intensify their efforts to capture Toretsk, Ukrainian defenders continue to hold on to formidable strongholds in the city, preventing any significant Russian breakthrough.
With the enemy attempting to push westward, elite Ukrainian assault squads conduct devastating raids on Russian positions to prevent them from taking control of the city.
The main goal for Ukrainians is to keep Russian forces contained within Toretsk, preventing them from using the city as a staging ground for further advances westward. If Russians secure the outskirts, they could exploit roads and open terrain to push westward, threatening Ukrainian defenses.
By holding strong positions and launching raids in the city, Ukrainian troops keep the fighting contained, denying Russians the ability to break out into more favorable terrain.
To achieve this, Ukrainian forces have withdrawn to defensible strongholds within the city’s outer edges, allowing them to concentrate their firepower and resources more effectively. In addition to static defense, they conduct frequent mechanized raids into the outskirts, preventing the enemy from consolidating control over it.
One of the biggest challenges Ukrainian defenders face, is the sheer numerical superiority of Russian forces. The enemy has been able to flood Toretsk with infantry, sweeping through the suburbs and finding gaps in the Ukrainian lines. Reports indicate that Russian troops often advance in small groups of 3-4 men, moving in waves to wear down Ukrainian defenses. While this strategy comes at a high cost in Russian casualties, it leads to near-continuous engagements.
To adapt to the Russian strategy, Ukrainian forces have maximized their defensive ability by concentrating their forces around several strongholds in the city, closing off gaps previously exploited by Russian troops. Ukrainians also have well-defensible fortifications built up behind these strongholds, securing their rear from Russian flanking attacks.
Intense clashes have erupted in Toretsk’s northern industrial sector, where Russian forces are attempting to push forward, but face fierce Ukrainian resistance.
In one engagement, Russian troops breached a mine held by Ukrainian defenders, sparking a brutal close-quarters battle. Outnumbered and unable to suppress the assault with FPV drones alone, Ukrainian forces called in armored support. A tank arrived, shelling the Russian-held position and eliminating the attackers, securing the area once again.
Another significant advantage for Ukraine in Toretsk, is the presence of elite brigades with superior training, armored vehicles, and advanced weapons systems. Additionally, Ukrainian drones dominate the skies over Toretsk, making it nearly impossible for Russian forces to deploy armor in support of their infantry, as soldiers on the ground report that Russians currently cannot move any vehicle through Toretsk without being hit.
Ukrainian forces have capitalized on Russian vulnerabilities by launching frequent mechanized raids against enemy positions on Toretsk’s outer edges. In one recent operation, Ukrainian troops used an Oncilla armored vehicle to mine a Russian position within a building, blowing it up, eliminating enemy forces, and discouraging them from reinforcing their positions.
In another assault, a combined force of a T-64 tank, a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, and a Senator MRAP launched an assault, with the tank opening fire with its main gun, drawing attention away from the assault group, allowing them to carry out their operation successfully, capturing 4 prisoners and clearing the area. These raids prevent Russian forces from consolidating their control, inflict heavy casualties, and disrupt enemy plans.
Recent Ukrainian operations have focused on targeting and engaging Russian troops before they can entrench themselves in buildings. In one instance, Ukrainian special forces conducted a nighttime raid on Russian positions, using suppressive fire to pin down enemy troops before clearing the building.
Overall, while the situation in Toretsk remains difficult, Ukrainian forces are executing an effective active defense strategy by stalling Russian advances while reinforcing the next layer of defenses behind the city. With drone surveillance constantly monitoring Russian movements, Ukrainian forces strike at key moments, inflicting damage and retreating before the enemy can respond effectively.
This strategy has successfully contained the battle within Toretsk for weeks, preventing the enemy from breaking out into open terrain. Every day the Ukrainians delay the Russian advance, which allows for a stronger defensive line to be built further in the west.
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