Attack On Europe: Documenting Russian Equipment Losses During The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine (2 year anniversary)

ORYX ^ | Since February 24, 2022 and daily | ORYX

[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.

[AdmSmith]

Russia has begun selling physical gold from its reserves for the first time to help cover widening budget needs, the country's Central Bank confirmed to Russian media outlet Interfax on November 20.

The move marks a significant shift in how Moscow is tapping its financial buffers to sustain government spending during the war against Ukraine.

The National Wealth Fund held 405.7 metric tons of gold before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the Finance Ministry has liquidated around 57% of that stash—about 232.6 tons—to shore up the budget.

As of November 1, 2025, the fund's gold holdings have fallen to 173.1 tons. Combined liquid assets, including yuan holdings, have dropped from $113.5 billion before the war to just $51.6 billion today. As a share of Russia's GDP, unspent reserves have shrunk fourfold.

Russia currently maintains more than 2,300 tons of gold in total national reserves—the fifth-largest stockpile in the world—but the new sales underline how heavily the Kremlin now leans on its sovereign buffers to keep its wartime economy afloat.

Earlier, Russia's federal revenues from oil and gas collapsed, dropping 27% year over year as sanctions tightened, global crude prices softened, and the ruble regained strength.

https://united24media.com/latest-news/russia-starts-selling-off-its-gold-reserves-to-fund-the-war-budget-breaking-a-long-held-taboo-13627

[kiryandil]

Better hurry - you’re runnink out of Ukrainians...

[kiryandil]

Better hurry - you’re runnink out of Ukrainians...

[kiryandil]

Check out ZeepyInTexas and him calling Trump “DimWit” in #22303.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4219673/posts?page=22303#22303

[gleeaikin]

“Ukrainians always come back. The Ukrainians will return and reclaim what is theirs.... They will destroy everything in their path. Do not offend the Ukrainians. Otherwise, when Ukrainians return to the land where their ancestors are buried, those living on this land will envy the dead,” – Dzhokhar Dudaev.”

Contrary to the pro Putin doom and gloom predictions,
“Russian soldiers broadcast a complete nightmare of what is going on in Pokrovsk drone war
RFU News — Reporting from Ukraine, Nov 18, 2025
4 1/2 minute video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQFprkqqLGE

You can see RFU’s Interactive News Map: https://www.rfunews.com/map
and Watch RFU in 20 languages: https://www.youtube.com/
@RFU/channels

.“Today, there are decisive updates from the Pokrovsk direction.

Here, the Ukrainian command deployed some of their most lethal drone units to hunt down Russian infiltrators inside Pokrovsk. The special forces proved their effectiveness by dealing the enemy some of their worst losses in the biggest drone massacre of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrival at Madyar’s headquarters on the Pokrovsk front marked the moment Ukrainian drone warfare entered an intensified phase. He came specifically to visit every major drone unit operating in this sector, from the First Azov Corps and the 25th Airborne to the 7th Rapid Response, Rubizh, and others, to ensure they had every tool needed to hunt down Russian forces. Both Zelensky and Commander-in-Chief Syrski issued the same directive: finish off the Russians in Pokrovsk, and what followed proved the order had landed with absolute clarity.

The 414th Brigade Birds of Madyar was deployed to counter Russian attempts to reinforce their forces inside Pokrovsk. The Russian command continues using the tactic of infiltration, and footage shows that now most of the soldiers are moving alone, trying to use the terrain and every advantage to hide, hoping Ukrainian operators will not spend drones on single soldiers. Yet, the images prove that the Ukrainian operators are following the order strictly, tracking and destroying even single soldiers, targeting them as many times as needed to be sure they are dead. The Birds of Madyar reported 8,005 Russian troops eliminated in October alone, proving how unstoppable their operators have become, with just one clip showing 39 Russian soldiers, six motorcycles, and a quad bike destroyed, infiltrators hunted day and night, and even soldiers hiding under rubble or inside garages found and neutralized. Madyar’s fighters have turned the entire southern perimeter of Pokrovsk into a drone-dominated kill zone. Anything that moves is targeted, and anything that hides is found in the massacre.

Alongside them, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate deployed its elite special forces with the specific task to clear those Russians already inside the town, a decision that immediately altered the balance of the battle. Its drone operators are among the most skilled, and once they joined the fight for Pokrovsk, Russian losses skyrocketed. The special forces operators started using predominantly FPV’s with fiber optics to overcome Russian electronic warfare and ensure the drones would work even in bad weather conditions. As a result, with the best drone pilots operating together in one sector, destruction became systemic. In a single month, Ukrainian special forces eliminated more than 1,500 Russian troops, destroyed 39 artillery systems, and took out 18 electronic warfare and air defense assets. Their Pokrovsk record also includes 20 tanks, 62 other armored vehicles, and 532 trucks, cars, and motorbikes, but also ammunition dumps and critical fuel storage points deep in the Russian rear.

President Zelensky was so impressed by the results that he returned to the Pokrovsk direction to congratulate the troops personally. During the visit, he awarded soldiers, spoke directly with drone operators, and emphasized that Russia had achieved no success around Pokrovsk in recent days, despite launching one of the most intense offensive campaigns anywhere on the front line. He stressed that one-third of all frontline clashes in Ukraine occur in Pokrovsk, and half of all Russian glide bombs are launched at the town. In early November, the Russians even attempted 100 assault actions in a single day in this sector, an extraordinary number, surpassed only twice throughout all of 2025. This reflects Putin’s desperation, as Pokrovsk is crucial for his goal of claiming the entire Donbas, and the Russian command is now throwing everything it has into the fight.

Overall, the deployment of Ukraine’s most advanced drone units to Pokrovsk demonstrates exactly how seriously Ukraine takes its defense. During his frontline visit, Zelensky said clearly that Pokrovsk is Ukraine, this is Ukraine’s east, and the leadership of the country will do everything to keep it Ukrainian. Russia may control 81% of Donetsk and nearly all of Luhansk but taking the fortified towns in northern Donetsk will cost an enormous amount of manpower and equipment. The Pokrovsk Myrnohrad agglomeration is now a fortress defended not only by infantry but by the most lethal, coordinated drone network Ukraine has deployed since the start of the war, leading to the biggest drone massacre.”

Frankly, this is what a real commander does, picks the best people for an important job, and supervises that it is being done well. In fact Dudaev’s description is right, every one of these Russians trying to occupy Pokrovsk is being killed.

[JonPreston]

Russia dangling $100,000,000,000 ‘carrot’ as payoff to Trump

Gergana Krasteva

Published November 21, 2025 2:06pm Updated November 21, 2025 5:00pm

Link is copied Comments

Rescuers clear debris at the site of an apartment building that was hit yesterday by a Russian missile, in Ternopil (Picture: Reuters)

No further Nato expansion. Occupied Ukrainian territory recognised as Russian, including by the US. No prosecution for Russia for war crimes.

These are some of the clauses – part of a ‘surrender document’, brokered by Donald Trump – that Ukraine is facing after almost four years of war.

Buried in the middle of the 28-point ‘peace blueprint’ being hammered out between the US and Russia, clause 14 stands out like a flashing sign.

It offers up $100 billion in frozen Russian assets – repackaged as a fund for reconstruction, with the US pocketing half the profits.

Meanwhile, Russia would be granted around two-thirds of the $300 billion of sovereign assets frozen in Europe.

Keir Giles, a Russia expert at Chatham House, told Metro this is a ‘payoff’ for the Trump administration.

He said: ‘You can see why that would appeal to the US. Effectively, Russia is saying, “we have given up on these frozen funds already, why don’t you help yourself to it”.

‘The terms on reallocation present a carrot dangled in front of the Trump administration to encourage them towards enforcement of the agreement on Ukraine.’

A map showing the proposed territorial changes under the US-Russia plan (Picture: Metro)

Europe would also be expected to add $100 billion to boost the investment for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

The proposal appears to heed to the demands of the Kremlin, whose 2022 full-scale invasion has turned into Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.

Under the draft, Russia would not only keep territories that it occupies but get more land currently controlled by Ukraine.

The West would lift sanctions on Russia, which would also be invited back into the G8.

[kiryandil]

[JonPreston]

He’s a vile NeverTrump’er. Both he and PIF took Zots a few months back after comparing Trump to Neville Chamberlain. GrannyGlee likes to post PBS links and admsmith brings BlueSky material here. And dennisw threatened to hit the abuse button on me this morning because I’m not his kind of conservative. What a Clown show :P

[kiryandil]

dimmyw don’t like The Institute for Grifting on War?

[JonPreston]

[JonPreston]

Are my #NeverTrump Muppets happy today?

[AdmSmith]

Iran and Russia expanded covert scientific cooperation in 2024 through a series of undisclosed meetings involving nuclear experts, dual-use technologies, and sanctioned institutions.

The revelation adds further scrutiny to Iran's nuclear activities. In June 2025, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated that his agency lacked definitive evidence of a weapons program but noted that Iran's activities have created significant ambiguity. “No country in the world enriches uranium to 60% except Iran,” Grossi said at the time, adding that this level is “technically almost equivalent” to weapons-grade enrichment at 90%.

https://united24media.com/latest-news/tehrans-nuclear-scientists-quietly-returned-to-russia-heres-why-it-matters-13579

[AdmSmith]

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 21, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to indicate that his demands have not fundamentally changed since the August 2025 Alaska summit. Putin held a Security Council meeting on November 21 and explicitly addressed the US-proposed 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.[1] Putin stated that the Kremlin has received a copy of the proposed deal and that US President Donald Trump had already proposed a peace plan to Russia before the Alaska summit. Putin stated that Russia agrees with the proposals that he and Trump discussed during the Alaska summit. Other Russian officials, including Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and lead Russian negotiator and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev, have also responded to the 28-point peace plan by reiterating Russia's commitment to the Alaska summit principles.[2] The exact parameters of discussions at the Alaska summit between Trump and Putin remain unclear, but Putin used the press conference at the summit to reiterate his demand that any peace agreement must eliminate the “root causes” of the war (Kremlin shorthand for demanding its original war aims about NATO expansion and the removal of the current Ukrainian government).[3] US officials noted after the summit that Putin was willing to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, and Putin reportedly indicated that the People's Republic of China (PRC) could be a possible guarantor.[4] Russian officials reiterated their demands after the summit that European-backed security guarantees for Ukraine and the deployment of European peacekeeping contingents to Ukraine are unacceptable and made several statements following the summit that Russia's conditions for ending the war had not changed.[5]

Peskov also reiterated on November 21 that the Kremlin would rather negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and bilateral US-Russia issues separately, contrary to the Trump administration's stated interest and the terms of the 28-point peace proposal.[6] The Kremlin has historically used public statements to clarify Russia's negotiating positions to the West, such as when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to several Russian and US media outlets in August 2025 after the Alaska summit to reiterate that Russia's demands to end the war had not changed.[7] Kremlin officials have offered no variance on their longstanding position to date.

Reported Russian government insiders also indicated that the Kremlin does not support the proposed 28-point peace plan. Russian opposition outlet Verstka reported on November 21 that diplomatic sources and sources close to the Kremlin stated that the provisions in the 28-point peace plan should be seen more as a basis of a future agreement and not an agreement that Putin would formally sign.[8] One source close to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) stated that the plan in its current form is “not ready” and that Russia objects to the proposed security guarantees for Ukraine, the cap on the Ukrainian military much greater than that Russia demanded in 2022, the proposed method of sanctions relief for Russia (likely referring to the lack of set conditions under which the United States would lift sanctions), and use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. A high-ranking Russian federal government source working on the peace negotiations reportedly stated that Trump is in a hurry to conclude a deal but that Putin is “not so much.” The source reportedly stated that the current document has too many vague points that postpone the resolution of contentious issues between Russia and Ukraine “indefinitely.” The source expressed doubt that Russia would ratify an agreement that does not clarify in detail Russia's issues, including borders and deadlines to fulfill the document's conditions. The source noted that Putin's visit to a command post of the Russian Western Grouping of Forces on November 20 in a military uniform “demonstrate[d] his firm position” while the “entire planet is discussing a peace plan.”

Russian officials are setting informational conditions to reject the 28-point peace plan, which acquiesces to many — but not all — of Russia's persistent war demands. Putin and other prominent Russian officials continue to reiterate publicly that Russia will achieve its war goals militarily. Putin reiterated on November 21 that Russia is open to achieving peace through diplomatic means but that Russia is “happy” to continue pursuing its war goals militarily.[9] Putin visited a command post of the Russian Western Group of Forces on November 20 and stated that the most important task is to achieve Russia's war goals, which Putin claimed the “Fatherland” and “people of Russia” had set before the Kremlin.[10] Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov told Putin at the meeting that Russian forces will continue their mission to seize the remainder of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts in accordance with the military's existing plans. These statements reinforce to the Russian people that they should expect Russia to occupy the entirety of all four oblasts.

Other Russian officials are signaling more directly to the Russian populace that the 28-point peace deal is unacceptable for Russia. Russian State Duma Defense Committee Chairperson Andrei Kartapolov stated that a peace plan is not in Russia's interests, given Russian advances in Ukraine, and claimed that Russia cannot trust the West to uphold the terms of the peace deal, including the point that NATO would not expand.[11] Duma Defense Committee Deputy Chairperson Alexei Zhuravlev stated that the 28-point peace proposal will not lead to a sustainable peace and that no US- or European-proposed agreements will ever lead to such a peace.[12] Zhuravlev claimed that the war can only end with Russia's “unequivocal victory on the front” and with “Ukraine's capitulation.”

The Kremlin has thus far failed to set conditions for the Russian people to accept anything less than a full Russian victory in Ukraine.[13] Commentary from Russian ultranationalists — Putin's main constituency — indicates that the people upon whom Putin relies for support retain the same expectations for the war that Putin introduced in February 2022, despite the new 28-point proposal. Russian ultranationalist voices criticized the 28-point peace plan for requiring Russia to give up its war goals.[14] Russian ultranationalist milbloggers also criticized the peace proposal as unsustainable and claimed that such a deal would lead to further confrontation in the future.[15] The milbloggers broadly expressed support for continuing the war and claimed that the proposal does not benefit Russia and contains some unacceptable stipulations that must change.[16] A prominent milblogger criticized the deal for not giving Russia all of the Ukrainian oblasts it has illegally annexed, including areas that Russia does not currently occupy in Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts.[17] Official Russian reactions, including from Putin, in response to the 28-point peace plan reinforce, rather than reject, the expectation that Russia will achieve all of its war goals before agreeing to peace.

The Kremlin has similarly rejected US-proposed ceasefires and negotiations in recent months, while Ukraine has consistently shown a willingness to engage and compromise. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated Ukraine's willingness to work with the United States on the proposed peace plan, even though the plan imposes major concessions on Ukraine, few on Russia, and largely amounts to Ukraine's surrender.[18] Putin stated that the 28-point peace proposal “could form the basis” of a permanent peace but requires a substantive discussion.[19] Putin and other Kremlin officials reiterated the Kremlin's commitment to achieving its original war goals through diplomatic means, but have rejected prior US-led proposals.[20] Ukraine has agreed to every ceasefire and prisoner exchange that the Trump administration has proposed to date and demonstrated a willingness to compromise on terms for a permanent peace. The sudden and public imposition of the plan on Ukraine, while also requiring Ukraine to make a rapid decision about the plan with less than a week of consideration time, makes Ukraine appear to be the unwilling party that is blocking progress, even though the Kremlin itself has expressed disapproval of the plan.[21] The Kremlin likely seeks to divide Ukraine from the United States such that Russia can continue its war against Ukraine without US and Western support and backing.

The proposed peace plan would not bring Russia and Ukraine closer to a just and lasting peace but would set conditions for renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine in the future. Axios reported on November 21 that the 28-point plan includes “Article 5-like” security guarantees for Ukraine — referring to NATO's collective defense clause — but that these guarantees would only last for 10 years and need to be renewed.[22] The time limit on security guarantees for Ukraine would allow Russia to reinvade Ukraine with an experienced, rested, and reconstituted military after the guarantees expire.[23] The battle lines set forth by the proposed peace plan would additionally heavily favor another Russian invasion.[24] Any peace deal that requires Ukraine to withdraw from Donetsk Oblast would force Ukraine to withdraw to lines that would largely be indefensible against renewed Russian aggression and likely allow Russia to launch renewed pushes into southern Kharkiv Oblast and eastern Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts from the proposed ”frozen” frontline.

Putin and Russian military commanders continue to promote the false narrative that a Russian victory is inevitable in order to push Ukraine and the West into acquiescing to Russian demands. Putin notably wore a military uniform for his November 20 meeting at the Western Grouping of Forces command post– the fourth time he has worn a military uniform to a public event since the start of the full-scale invasion and only a few weeks after his second and third times doing so in mid-September and late October 2025.[25] Gerasimov opened his report by claiming that Russian forces are advancing on virtually all fronts on the battlefield. Gerasimov claimed that Russian forces have seized over 80 percent of Vovchansk and over 75 percent of Pokrovsk. ISW has only observed evidence to assess that Russian forces have seized 34 percent of Vovchansk and 46 percent of Pokrovsk, however. Russian Southern Grouping of Forces Commander Lieutenant General Sergei Medvedev, who recently became the commander after serving as the grouping's chief of staff, claimed that Russian forces have taken control of eastern and southeastern Kostyantynivka and have started to clear the central area. ISW has only observed evidence of Russian infiltration missions into limited areas in southeastern Kostyantynivka, however. Medvedev stated that the Russian military command plans to seize most of Kostyantynivka by mid-December 2025. Putin responded that it is not important to set specific deadlines, but Medvedev’s statement is an attempt to paint the Russian military command as confident in its ability to seize rapidly the southern tip of Ukraine's heavily fortified Fortress Belt.

The Russian military command continued to exaggerate claims about successes in Kupyansk – a narrative the Kremlin began to heavily promote in late August 2025.[26] Gerasimov claimed that Russian forces seized all of Kupyansk.[27] Russian Western Grouping of Forces Commander Colonel General Sergei Kuzovlev claimed that elements of the Russian 68th Motorized Rifle Division (6th Combined Arms Army [CAA], Leningrad Military District [LMD]) seized and maintain control over Kupyansk, but that Russian forces are still destroying small, scattered Ukrainian groups in the town. Kuzovlev claimed that elements of the 68th Motorized Rifle Division are cooperating with elements of the 47th Tank Division and 27th Motorized Rifle Brigade (both of the 1st Guards Tank Army [GTA], Moscow Military District [MMD]) to destroy the Ukrainian forces encircled on the east (left) bank of the Oskil River in the Kupyansk direction. Putin claimed during the November 21 Security Council meeting that Kupyansk is a recent example of what Russian forces will “inevitably” repeat in other areas of the front.[28] Kupyansk is notably one area of the front where Ukrainian forces have been successfully pushing back Russian offensive efforts.[29] ISW continues to assess that Ukrainian forces in the Kupyansk direction are in the process of successfully rolling back a Russian effort to seize a settlement of this scale for the first time in recent years.[30]

The Russian military command continued to use flag raising across the battlefield to support its allegations of Russian successes. Geolocate footage published on November 21 shows small groups of two to five Russian servicemembers raising flags in Kupyansk, Novoselivka, Stavky, and Yampil — four settlements that the Russian military commanders claimed that Russian forces had seized in the meeting with Putin.[31] ISW assesses that these flag raisings were part of Russian infiltration missions that did not change the control of terrain or the forward edge of battle area (FEBA). Russia has increasingly relied on footage showing Russian flag raisings to claim advances in areas where Russian forces conducted small group infiltration missions and did not establish enduring positions.[32] The Russian military command likely timed the flag raisings with the meeting with Putin in order to garner informational effects and provide alleged evidence to back the commanders’ claims.

Russian milbloggers and Ukrainian officials both refuted many of the Russian commanders’ claimed successes. A Kremlin-affiliated Russian milblogger noted that there is no evidence of Russian control of the area south of Svativska Street in central Kupyansk or the industrial area east of the railway.[33] The milblogger also noted that Kuzovlev’s claim that Russian forces seized Petropavlivka (east of Kupyansk) is also “uncertain” as there is no evidence or footage of Russian forces raising flags in the settlement, and the situation near the bridgehead in the area remains “tense.” A Russian milblogger reportedly affiliated with the Russian Northern Grouping of Forces stated that Gerasimov’s claim about the seizure of Kupyansk is unconfirmed, and another milblogger claimed that it is premature to talk about the seizure of Yampil.[34] The Ukrainian General Staff denied claims that Russian forces seized Kupyansk, stating that Ukrainian efforts to detect and eliminate the Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups that infiltrated into the town and its suburbs are ongoing.[35] Ukraine's Joint Forces Task Force reported that groups of Russian soldiers numbering about 40 total personnel are scattered in northern Kupyansk.[36] The Ukrainian General Staff similarly denied the claimed seizure of Yampil and percentages of Vovchansk and Pokrovsk that Russian forces control.

Russia's battlefield successes are not inevitable, and the Kremlin is intensifying efforts to aggrandize recent Russian military activity to advocate that Ukraine surrender terrain in Donetsk Oblast that Russian forces are unlikely to actually seize without several years of campaigning. Russian forces seized approximately 908 square kilometers of additional territory (about the area of Berlin) in all of Ukraine since the Alaska summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15. Some of these territorial gains were enabled by seasonal weather (fog and rain), which degraded Ukraine's use of drones, and the rate of Russian advance will likely slow as weather conditions stabilize. Continued European military assistance and European-financed American weapons sales to Ukraine will likely enable Ukrainian forces to defend Ukraine's Fortress Belt in Donetsk Oblast for several years, and possibly even reverse some Russian gains. Russia is facing mounting materiel, manpower, and economic challenges that will continue to compound and constrain Russia's ability to resource the war as it protracts.[37] Russia is therefore heavily vested in compelling Ukraine to surrender critical terrain that the Russian military is very unlikely to obtain by force on any rapid timeline.

Ukrainian forces continue to counterattack in the Pokrovsk direction, where the situation remains serious and dynamic. Ukrainian forces recently advanced in and around Pokrovsk and continue to hold back Russian advances in the area. Geolocated footage published on November 20 and 21 indicates that Ukrainian forces recently advanced south of Rodynske (north of Pokrovsk) along the T-0515 Pokrovsk-Dobropillya highway and northeast of Myrnohrad (east of Pokrovsk).[38] Pokrovsk itself remains contested, underscoring the fluid and interspersed nature of the frontline. The Ukrainian 7th Rapid Reaction Corps of the Air Assault Forces reported on November 21 that Ukrainian forces hold defined lines in northern Pokrovsk and maintain positions south of the Donetska Railway line.[39] The 7th Corps reported that Ukrainian forces are also clearing Russian forces from the northern outskirts of Myrnohrad. Russian milbloggers also acknowledged that Ukrainian forces maintain a presence within Pokrovsk itself; between Kozatske (east of Myrnohrad) and Promin (just southeast of Kozatske); and between Sukhyi Yar (southeast of Pokrovsk) and the railway line that runs northeast of Sukhyi Yar.[40]

Russian forces continue to use drones and glide bombs to target Ukrainian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) in the Pokrovsk direction. The spokesperson of a Ukrainian drone battalion reported that Russian forces are heavily striking Pokrovsk with guided glide bombs and are relying on the Russian Rubikon Center for Unmanned Technologies — the elements that have been largely responsible for successes in Russia's battlefield air interdiction (BAI) efforts.[41] The spokesperson added that Rubikon has an unlimited number of drones and highly trained operators in the Pokrovsk direction. The spokesperson of a Ukrainian brigade reported that Russian forces have increased their use of fiber optic drones with longer ranges and are focusing on striking Ukrainian drone operators.[42] The spokesperson noted that Russian forces are also using “waiter” drones along Ukrainian GLOCs.

https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-21-2025/

[AdmSmith]

Day 1,366 of the Muscovian invasion. 1,170 [average is 851] i.e. more than 48 Russians, Norks and Cubans/h. Vehicles and fuel tanks more than 45% above average

[AdmSmith]

Кремлевская табакерка
22NOV2025

Will the NWO [war in Ukraine] end this year or at the beginning of next year?

Many have such a question in connection with the emergence of the American peace plan and in anticipation of the possible intensification of negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis. Our sources in the Kremlin were skeptical about this issue. “You saw that Vladimir Vladimirovich reacted coldly and restrained to another peace plan. It could not be otherwise, and there are several reasons for this. First of all, there are plans to ensure that the goals of the NWO are achieved, as our president clearly said the day before. It takes several years to achieve the goals of the NWO, everyone understands this. We now hope that by the end of next year the DPR will be liberated. And there are other tasks waiting for us.

In addition, Vladimir Vladimirovich, as the strongest and most experienced world politician, believes that the special military operation can end exclusively on our terms. And there is no other way. The terms will be dictated by Putin, and not by the United States, Europe or anyone else,” said a source close to the president. Another source also does not believe in the imminent end of hostilities. “God told Vladimir Vladimirovich to fight as long as necessary. It's hard now, but we won't stop. It will be necessary, and we will fight for 10 years,” he said.

Thus, no one in the Presidential Administration expects the imminent completion of the NWO. The Central Bank still hopes for such a scenario. They again warn that the continuation of the special operation could lead to an aggravation of the current crisis and to a “difficult situation” in the first half of next year. In response to this, the Kremlin notes that “they do not listen to the stupid hysterics of Nabiullina and her people.”

https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/6450

Putin follows in Idi Amin’s footsteps on economics:

The Ugandan economy was soon in shambles. Amin’s financial advisors were naturally frightened to share this news with Amin, but in his book Talk of the Devil: Encounters With Seven Dictators, journalist Riccardo Orizio says one finance minister did just that, informing Amin “the government coffers were empty.”

The response from Amin is telling. “Why [do] you ministers always come nagging to President Amin?” he said. “You are stupid. If we have no money, the solution is very simple: you should print more money.”

https://fee.org/articles/how-idi-amin-responded-when-told-the-government-coffers-were-empty/

[JonPreston]

OVERVIEW

Russian President Vladimir Putin is waging a war of conquest to reestablish a Russian empire and overturn the post–Cold War international order. His full-scale invasion of Ukraine marks a defining geopolitical moment that threatens global stability and challenges the security of the United States and its allies to a degree unprecedented since the Second World War.

ISW launched its Russia-Ukraine portfolio in 2014 after Russia illegally occupied Crimea and has analyzed Russian military operations, political warfare, and ceasefire agreements in Ukraine since then. When Russia overtly entered the Syrian Civil War and provided airpower to the Assad Regime, ISW expanded its coverage to Russia as a global actor.

The ISW Russia & Ukraine Team studies the threat Russia poses to the United States, its NATO and Asia-Pacific allies, its European and global partners, and to independent states once part of the Soviet Union. The team assesses Russian military capabilities and exercises, functional and doctrinal orders of battle, force generation, command and control, technological innovation, defense industry, defense cooperation, and way of war. ISW analyzes Russian grand strategic objectives, informational, diplomatic, and economic campaigns and the stability of Putin’s regime, Kremlin power dynamics, and the interaction of the Kremlin with the Russian population, ISW forecasts the Kremlin’s ability to project power and wage armed conflict in Europe and globally.

Russia & Ukraine

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Special Report

November 14, 2025

Russia & Ukraine

Russian Partial Battlefield Air Interdiction Enabled Recent Russian Advances in Pokrovsk

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Special Report

[JonPreston]

Executive Summary

Russian advances in Pokrovsk resulted not from a sudden breakthrough but rather from months of dedicated battlefield shaping. Russian forces were able to make significant advances in and around Pokrovsk only recently, after successfully achieving partial battlefield air interdiction (BAI) effects over Spring-Summer 2025, which degraded Ukrainian ground lines of communications (GLOCs), enabled Russian infiltration missions, and subsequently undermined Ukraine’s ability to sustain tactical defenses. BAI refers to the use of airpower to strike targets in the near rear behind the frontline to impact battlefield operations in the near term.[1] New Russian technological and tactical adaptations and force structure changes allowed Russian forces to conduct a months-long BAI and infiltration campaign. The recent Russian advances in and around Pokrovsk would not have been possible, however, without the commitment of significant amounts of manpower and other traditional materiel in this direction at the expense of other efforts.

Russian forces are trying to expand the new BAI-infiltration campaign to other frontline sectors, including the Hulyaipole, Kupyansk, and Kostyantynivka directions, although it is unclear if Russia will be able to achieve similar effects across the entire battlefield. Russian adaptations during the battle of Pokrovsk show that defensive hubs such as Ukraine’s Fortress Belt — the main fortified defensive line in Donetsk Oblast since 2014 — require intensive protection of the immediate battlefield and near rear areas, particularly of critical GLOCs, from both tactical and intermediate-range strike campaigns.

Ukrainian forces have long relied on drone superiority to offset chronic and important shortages in materiel, but especially in personnel. The new Russian approach identified and attacked this critical Ukrainian offset, thereby facilitating more rapid and significant Russian advances. Ukraine and its partners must address Ukraine’s materiel and personnel shortages, but Ukraine will also have to restore its tactical and operational drone capabilities in order to be able to bring additional personnel and materiel to the front lines. Russian success around Pokrovsk thus also highlights the urgent requirement for Ukraine to expand its own BAI capabilities in order to disrupt Russian offensive operations and degrade the Russian elements conducting and supporting Russia’s BAI efforts.

The months-long Russian battlefield air interdiction (BAI) campaign against Ukrainian logistics in the immediate and near rear played a more decisive role in shaping the battlefield to permit Russian advances in and near Pokrovsk than other factors.

Russian forces recently advanced in Pokrovsk and are trying to collapse the pocket between that settlement and nearby Myrnohrad. The situation in Pokrovsk significantly worsened starting in mid- to late-October 2025, when at least 250 Russian servicemen entered the settlement and began engaging Ukrainian troops in small arms combat.[2] Russian forces subsequently launched motorized and mechanized assaults against Pokrovsk, established firing positions in several areas of the settlement, extended their logistics operations into the settlement, and are now actively trying to sever Ukrainian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) to Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.[3] Russian forces appear to be working simultaneously to complete the encirclement of the entire pocket and to reduce the pocket itself, but have not accomplished either objective as of this writing.[4] The rate of Russian advances in the Pokrovsk direction remains relatively low compared to the observed rate in late October 2025 for various reasons, including the Russian military command’s unwillingness to divert even more resources from other offensive efforts to this fight and the erosion of combat power that Russian forces around Pokrovsk have suffered during their protracted operations. Russian forces will likely eventually collapse the pocket around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, however, with or without additional reinforcements.[5] Ukrainian military officials maintain that Ukrainian forces still have access to logistics in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad area, and Ukrainian forces reportedly launched several localized counterattacks to hold the shoulders of the pocket and maintain positions in Pokrovsk itself.[6] Pokrovsk had served as an important logistics hub until about July 2025. The further operational significance of a Russian seizure of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad depends on whether Ukrainian forces can withdraw from the pocket in good order; the strength of Ukrainian defenses beyond the pocket; and whether Russian forces have the necessary combat power to exploit the collapse of the pocket for further advances.[7]

The Russian advance in Pokrovsk did not result from a sudden breakthrough, nor does it indicate that Russian forces have been able to restore maneuver to the battlefield. It resulted from a grinding 21-month offensive involving at least 170,000 Russian servicemen and heavy personnel and materiel losses.[8] Russian forces took 21 months to advance the 39 kilometers (just over 24 miles) from Avdiivka to Pokrovsk and reportedly committed from 170,000 to 220,000 troops to the Pokrovsk direction.[9] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russian forces suffered 25,000 casualties in October 2025 alone, primarily around Pokrovsk.[10] Russian forces first began the Pokrovsk effort in February 2024 after seizing Avdiivka, and began setting conditions to take Pokrovsk through direct frontal assaults in March 2024.[11] This effort failed, however, and Russian forces instead shifted to an envelopment campaign in Fall 2024.[12] Russian forces have reportedly lost at least five divisions’ worth of armored vehicles and tanks in the Pokrovsk Raion since beginning their offensive operation to seize Avdiivka in October 2023 and during intensified Russian offensive operations in western Donetsk Oblast in Summer 2024.[13] Russian forces conducted a short series of assaults, including motorcycle raids, in the Pokrovsk direction in Winter 2024-2025, but did not reprioritize the direction again until Spring-Summer 2025 — after Russian forces repelled Ukraine’s incursion in Kursk Oblast in March 2025.[14]

[SpeedyInTexas]

Yep, just keeping ‘talking’.

Meanwhile, continue to kill RuZZian Boys.

“A Ukrainian delegation, likely composed of key officials, is set to take part in new talks on the U.S. “peace plan” for ending the war.”

[SpeedyInTexas]

“Russia’s Share of Households With Savings Falls to 8-Year Low – Survey”

“The share of Russians reporting they have any savings has dropped to its lowest level in eight years, according to a survey by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) conducted between Nov. 1-14 for the Central Bank.

Only 31% of respondents said they had a financial cushion that would allow them to get by for a time if they lost their main source of income, one of the weakest readings in the survey’s history and the lowest since December 2017.”

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/11/21/russias-share-of-households-with-savings-falls-to-8-year-low-survey-a91199

[SpeedyInTexas]

“Russia’s Central Bank Starts Selling Physical Gold From Reserves”

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/11/20/russias-central-bank-starts-selling-physical-gold-from-reserves-a91192