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

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.

Sanctions are working dramatically effectively on Russia’s once great Natural Gas industry - even China is taking part. Now the Europeans are also starting their first sanctions on Russian LNG projects. No exports (none) are happening from the Arctic LNG 2 project, which was supposed to start last year, and no activity on financing a planned new Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline is occurring.

Putin did that.

OilPrice.com reports:

“The Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia, which Western sanctions have hit in recent months, significantly reduced its production of natural gas in May (55 mcm, from 215 the month before) as it hasn’t exported any LNG yet, a source with knowledge of output data told Reuters on Tuesday...

...Located in the Gydan Peninsula in the Arctic, the Arctic LNG 2 project was considered key to Russia’s efforts to boost its global LNG market share from 8% to 20% by 2030-2035.

But Arctic LNG 2 has been basically on ice since the U.S. imposed in November 2023 fresh sanctions on the Russian project...

...Arctic LNG 2 started operations such as natural gas extraction in December, but it hasn’t been able to ship any LNG cargo abroad yet...

...Potential contract cancellations for the construction of ice-class LNG carriers and the sanctions on Arctic LNG 2 could hamper Russia’s plans to boost LNG sales now that its pipeline route to Europe is largely cut off. (Pipeline gas to Europe accounted for 85% of Russia’s natural gas exports in 2021, before Putin scuttled the industry with his invasion)

Furthermore, Chinese engineering company Wison New Energies discontinued all ongoing Russian projects and will immediately and indefinitely stop taking any new Russian business, dealing a blow to Arctic LNG 2, for which Wison was to supply equipment for a gas turbine power station at the plant.

The EU added insult to injury as it banned last month (June 2024) new investments, as well as the provision of goods, technology, and services for the completion of Russian LNG projects under construction, such as Arctic LNG 2 and Murmansk LNG, in the first EU sanctions targeting Russia’s gas sector.”

Russia’s recent 4% uptick in Crude oil exports only lasted a couple of weeks, and they have since fallen back lower (and faster) than their pre-blip downtrend.

Putin.

OilPrice.com reports: Russia’s Crude Oil Exports Slip To Lowest Level Since January

“Russian seaborne crude oil exports dropped... to around 3.11 million barrels per day (bpd) in the four weeks to July 14, down by around 180,000 bpd from the four-week average from the week prior, according to the data reported by Bloomberg’s Julian Lee.

The latest four-week average crude shipments were the lowest observed seaborne exports out of Russia since January this year.

In the past weeks, the four-week average export volumes have continuously dropped, Bloomberg’s tanker-tracking data showed...

...The likely explanation could be Russia improving compliance with the OPEC+ cuts and raising domestic refining rates, according to Bloomberg’s Lee.

Over the past two weeks, most of the decline in Russian crude shipments came from the Western ports on the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. Exports from the Primorsk and Ust-Luga ports on the Baltic have slumped by 30% compared to a recent high in April, while exports from the port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea have almost halved from their recent high.

After a drop in shipments between the April high and early June, Russia’s seaborne crude exports started rising again in June, and the volumes recovered about one-third of their recent decline.

This came even as Russia’s Energy Ministry pledged earlier in June that Russia would reach its oil production quota in June after exceeding its target output under the OPEC+ deal in May.”

“Failed sanctions are why Europe is in recession”

Europe is not in recession.

Check the year on the stories that you are looking at (if you are not just inventing your stats to fit your agenda).

Like most of the world; including the USA, China and Russia; the Eurozone printed extra money during COVID, and was fighting the resulting inflation afterward with higher interest rates that slowed the economy.

The European Central Bank has already ended its rate hikes and has begun the first rate cuts (25 basis points, near a long term norm in the 3-4% range). The Eurozone GDP has been growing since the first quarter of this year, and employment is also improving. The USA maintained positive GDP growth throughout, and is expected to start reducing rates (from the 5.5% it has remained at for the last year) in September, now that US core inflation has dropped to 3% (nearing the target of 2%).

Unlike most of the rest of the world, Russia has remained on a tear printing new rubles, even after the COVID epidemic subsided, and in the face of rising inflation. Russia expanded their money supply another whopping 25% in 2022, and nearly another 20% in 2023. They are still at it. (The US money supply by comparison, contracted 3% since Putin’s 2022 invasion). Further serious inflation from that wartime Russian monetary expansion will take a couple of years to subside, if they stopped printing now (which they can’t, because of Putin’s war).

Russian domestic interest rates are now at a dysfunctional 16%, but the Russian Central Bank is currently publicly discussing raising the rate (possibly to 18% or 20%) at their next meeting (26 July, https://www.barrons.com/news/russia-s-central-bank-chief-signals-interest-rate-hike-d286e17a). New, higher tax rates are already scheduled for next year. Last week, the Russian Duma scrapped the flat tax system for a “progressive” indexed rate (with a bigger total take for the Government), to take effect next year. They also raised corporate income taxes 25% across the board, from 20% to 25% of profits, in addition to other additional targeted taxes.

The Russian population is being squeezed in several directions; by galloping inflation, a weakening currency, higher taxes and reduced subsidies (such as retail fuel costs).

Cutting off Russian oil and Natural Gas supplies caused a short time spike in energy costs in Europe, that is now over. New import infrastructure has been built and is operational, and long term contracts with new suppliers have been signed.
They are currently enjoying Russia’s former market share, and will be for the duration of their new 10-20 year contracts. Russia’s Natural Gas Infrastructure in the Arctic will likely degrade dramatically during Winter freezes when not in use, as they did after the collapse of the Soviet Union (which took a decade to rebuild, with Western companies providing financing and technology).

That is it for Russia’s impact on Europe’s economy. Russia stole the plant and equipment that Europeans (Americans and Japanese) invested there, and the corporations have already overwhelmingly written them off and filed their taxes with the deductions.

Russia did it’s worst, and the economic divorce is over - effectively, last year was the end of Russia as a factor in Europe’s economy.

Now Russia is dependent on China. All its eggs are in one basket. Putin did not like a rules based International order, with rule of law. Russians will probably like less the situation he has led them into - dependency on overlords who are notoriously rapacious and corrupt, unbound by morality or law. Other nations have had bad experiences with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, but outside of North Korea, few have exposed their throat to the degree of dependency that Putin has created.

Baltic states to complete decoupling from Russian-controlled power grid by early 2025

Kyiv Independent reports:

“The Baltic States’ power system operators informed Russia and Belarus that they would disconnect from the Moscow-controlled post-Soviet power grid starting in February 2025, media outlet LRT reported on July 16.

Lithuanian operator Litgrid, Latvian AST, and Estonian Elering informed the Russian and Belarusian operators that they would not extend the BRELL agreement, which expires in February 2025...

...The Baltic States’ operators plan to join the Continental Europe Synchronous Area with synchronization on Feb. 9, 2025...

...All three Baltic electricity systems are already prepared for “emergency synchronization at any moment” according to Litgrid. (Because they know how Putin is with energy blackmail)...

...The Baltic nations initially aimed to join the European system by the end of 2025. However, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they advanced the timeline by nearly a year.”

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.