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 ...
The Ukrainian company, Antonov, released a great video showing the spectacular operation to fly the An-124 from Ukraine to Germany.
https://bsky.app/profile/tendar.bsky.social/post/3lu3ljzvch22g
3 min video
The Politburo was impressed by the proposed loan amount, but even more so by the offer of possible military assistance. Representatives of the Russian leadership inquired about what types of weapons and what volumes were being discussed, and received the answer: supposedly, we will agree if Trump introduces sanctions.
In fact, China is provoking Russia to continue the war, taking on part of the financial obligations and offering military support at a fundamentally new level. It is not yet very clear how honest the Chinese are in their promises, nor is it clear whether a loan will be provided in the event of a truce between Russia and Ukraine. If Beijing links the provision of a loan on preferential terms to the continuation of the war, and the European Union refuses to lift some of the sanctions against Russia in response to a possible truce, the positions of the hawks in the Politburo may strengthen somewhat.
Lots of talk swirls about the economic and political problems China is having. This would be an interesting move by China, perhaps China looks to bleed Russia even more by helping them to continue the destruction of Russia and cement Russia as a minor player or even worse
Apparently this made the Russian bloggers a hopping mad😂
So much for the “Russia is self sufficient “ narrative that has been spewed across this site for years.
Can’t help but see this as china exerting more control over Russia, and cementing China as the big dog over russia.
IRIS‑T SLM/SLS and Patriot air defense systems are already in combat, new deliveries are expected in 2025.
https://x.com/Heroiam_Slava/status/1945822535431447030
Soon to be air shipped from Germany to Ukraine by the An-124.
Shchekinoazot is a leading producer of industrial chemical products, including methanol, caprolactam, mineral fertilizers, and sulfuric acid.
The regional governor reported that “debris” had fallen on the plant’s premises.
https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1945809995066425460
“The Politburo was impressed by the proposed loan amount, but even more so by the offer of possible military assistance. Representatives of the Russian leadership inquired about what types of weapons and what volumes were being discussed, and received the answer: supposedly, we will agree if Trump introduces sanctions.”
The supposed Chinese military aid to be provided by China if Trump introduces sanctions, raises the question of how Trump would react to China’s increased aid? What more can Trump do to punish/discourage China besides the tariff game already being played?
https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1945853737613791672
The Strela fires a heat-seeking missile at the ISR drone.
The missile guides on the drone, but the fuse does not function.
The Strela crew pays the price.
https://x.com/Heroiam_Slava/status/1945873992994193464
Perhaps Merz is referring to the combat proven Long Neptune.
US unveils ‘reliable and cost-effective’ drone to rival Iranian-designed Shaheds
Kyiv Independent (17 July):
“The United States has unveiled a new low-cost combat drone aimed at rivaling Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones, online military magazine Defence Blog reported on July 16…
… U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reviewed the drone, known as the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS), during a July 16 demonstration at the Pentagon.
Developed by Arizona-based defense contractor Spektreworks, LUCAS was designed as a flexible, modular platform for strike, reconnaissance, and communications support.
Described as a “reliable and cost-effective,” the drone features an open architecture design that enables quick payload swaps and various launch options, including vehicle deployment.”
Another German military transport flight earlier today to Rzeszow. Another transport flight from UK to Rzeszow currently airborne.
OilPrice.com reports:
“The European Union will propose to G7 finance ministers to lower the price cap on Russian crude from the current $60 per barrel to $50, European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said...
...many analysts argue the price cap has become less effective because Russia now largely reroutes its exports through a so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers that evade maritime oversight...
...Russia’s shadow fleet consists of approximately 500 (some estimate 700), mostly poorly insured and aging tankers that ship crude to countries such as India and China, in defiance of Western sanctions. These tankers, estimated to carry as much as 85% of Russia’s oil exports—which bring in a third of Russia’s export revenues—typically have opaque ownership structures and lack top-tier insurance or safety certification. Most belong to anonymous or newly formed shell companies based in jurisdictions such as Dubai, further complicating accountability.
The majority of shadow tankers sail across the Baltic Sea, a route considered critical for Russia’s energy exports. The shadow fleet uses various tactics to avoid detection, including ship-to-ship transfers in international waters, spoofed location data, and fake ship identification numbers. Some estimates suggest that approximately three shadow tankers carrying Russian crude pass through European waters each day, including the Danish straits and the Channel. Some experts estimate the shadow fleet may now include as many as 700 tankers.
However, Lithuanian National Security Advisor Kęstutis Budrys has highlighted the ambiguity surrounding the law on interdiction in international waters, warning that trying to stop the shadow fleet could risk an all-out military confrontation with Russia. Last week, a Russian fighter jet briefly entered Estonia’s airspace, in what some experts suspect was a reprisal for the Estonian military escorting a tanker named Jaguar out of the country’s economic waters. The Estonian navy acted quickly, believing the ship posed a threat to nearby underwater cables, and checked its status and registration. The Russian jet entered Estonian airspace without permission...
...”In the last four or five months of last year, we saw a roughly 10% decline in the amount of oil leaving from Russia,” Finnish Border Guard’s Head of Maritime Safety Mikko Hirvi told Reuters...
...A recent study found that limiting Russia’s shadow fleet may be more effective than simply lowering the oil price cap...
According to him, the “failures” occurring at the refineries are related to problems with equipment supplies. It was subject to European sanctions as part of the first package for the invasion of Ukraine - in February 2022. “Why do there sometimes fail? Because now in the sanctions regime we are in: let's say, 4 months are planned for repairs, but something is delayed, something is not delivered to us,” Reuters quotes Tsivilev as saying.
The minister added that due to sanctions restrictions, “the deadlines” for repairs at the refinery are “shifted.” “And we are forced to compensate for these shifts,” Tsivilev said. Last year, Russian refineries’ crude output fell to a 12-year low after a series of Ukrainian drone strikes knocked out at least 10 of their largest plants, some of which were forced to shut down for months, according to Reuters.
In the 2000s, foreign design solutions accounted for 80% of equipment in oil refining, and even during the Soviet era, technologies for oil refineries were purchased in the West, in particular catalytic reforming units, notes Sergei Kondratyev, deputy head of the economic department of the Institute of Energy and Finance.
The plants were never able to switch to domestic production, despite the state policy of import substitution. According to Kondratyev's estimates, by 2024 only 45% of the refineries’ pumping equipment, 40% of the compressors, and only 30% of the reactors and coke chambers were domestic.
https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2025/07/17/vrossii-iz-za-sanktsii-nachalis-problemi-sremontom-npz-a169109
The wage race, during which they grew by 8.2% and 9.1% in real terms (adjusted for inflation) in 2023-2024, may be coming to an end. The labor shortage remains, but is becoming less acute, the Central Bank believes, the economy is slowing down, and demand is falling - in such conditions, companies have less incentive to retain employees in rubles, and many simply no longer have this opportunity.
More and more companies are dropping out of the “wage race” because the ability to pass on rising labor costs to selling prices is gradually being exhausted, the Central Bank stated. In April, real wage growth was 4.6% year-on-year.
This is largely due to the sharp slowdown in the economy. “Many respondents have seen their need for employees decrease due to a decrease in demand for products,” the Central Bank writes, noting that under these conditions, the growth of actual and proposed salaries has slowed, and “enterprises’ plans for employment and increasing wages have become more restrained.” A number of companies that were planning to raise salaries are now planning to do without it, while others are refusing to hire, introducing a part-time employment regime, providing unscheduled vacations, or have begun layoffs. The share of those who expect the number of employees to remain unchanged has increased (65% versus 62% in January) and plan to reduce the number of employees (to 11.5% from 6.9% in January). This is most typical for mining, mechanical engineering, and pharmaceuticals, the Central Bank specifies.
Russian aircraft manufacturers have failed to create analogues of foreign bearings and electronic component base for aircraft, said Anatoly Gaidansky, CEO of Aerocomposite. The company develops parts for domestic passenger airliners MS-21. “Our pain points are known. The first is bearings. Our bearings are not even close to those that our industry needs... The second pain point is the electronic component base,” he said at the Innoprom-2025 exhibition ( quoted by EAN).
Gaidansky added that creating its own aircraft has become a “big challenge” for Russia, since the achievements of Soviet aircraft manufacturing were lost back in the 1990s, and the technologies themselves have advanced far ahead. The problems in the industry are exacerbated by a personnel shortage. “The level of training of engineers at our universities, unfortunately, has become lower in recent years,” he stated.
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