Posted on 02/24/2024 5:59:01 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
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
[ Ukrainians Strike Thousands of KM Deep Russian Targets ]
==
Day 749: Mar 13
Today, there are a lot of interesting developments in the northeast.
Here, Ukrainian forces conducted one of the most successful massive strikes against Russian military assets, such as airfields, factories, and headquarters, as well as energy infrastructure, such as refineries and fuel depots.
This was also the deepest strike that Ukrainians have ever conducted, as Ukrainian drones successfully destroyed targets up to 900 kilometers away from the Ukrainian border.
This achievement was a direct result of the recent advancements in long-range drone technologies, as well as the rapidly increased scale of production of these drones, as part of one of the main Ukrainian goals for 2024
But what is interesting is that the first part of the operation started on the ground. Here, three separate detachments conducted a series of limited cross-border incursions into the Belgorod and Kursk regions.
It is important to note that all three detachments consisted of Russian citizens who are fighting on the Ukrainian side, namely, the Russian Volunteer Corps, Freedom of Russia Legion, and the Siberian Battalion. Previously, there were only 2 detachments, so the establishment of the 3ed one means that the number of Russian citizens who are fighting on the Ukrainian side has notably increased.
These All-Russian Pro-Ukrainian detachments opened 4 vectors of attack. Released combat footage showed how Russian forces were fleeing the border due to the unexpected attack. The pro-Ukrainian forces managed to enter multiple settlements and assumed virtually an all-round defense to draw Russian forces.
Russian sources published footage showing how they strike the pro-Ukrainian forces and block their further movement. Russian military analysts claimed that the attacks completely failed, and Russian forces managed to react and repel the attacks timely, showing a substantial improvement from what we saw almost one year ago.
However, judging by the locations of advancement, unlike the last time, the goal of the pro-Ukrainian forces was not to get as deep into the Russian territory as possible.
In fact, the goal of the pro-Ukrainian forces seemed to be to engage as many Russian forces as fast as possible because the pro-Ukrainian forces attacked Russians exactly at the same spots as last time.
It was expected that Russians would reinforce these regions after the previous painful incursions, so if the pro-Ukrainian forces wanted to penetrate the Russian border, they would highly likely not repeat themselves.
But by repeating themselves, they generated a rapid, coherent response from the Russian side, engaging a lot of forces, including aviation.
Russian sources reported that Russians used helicopters to conduct airstrikes, and this is exactly what Ukrainians waited for because the next thing that happened was the launch of the massive drone strike.
With a lot of friendly objects in the sky, detection, and interception of Ukrainian drones was significantly harder, allowing them to penetrate the Russian airspace by record distances.
It seems like due to the confusion, the Russian air defense operators once again shot down their own aviation. Recently released footage shows a burning IL-76 aircraft rapidly losing altitude.
As a result, the aircraft crashed, with the whole crew immediately presumed dead. Some sources also reported about the interception of the Russian SU-27 in the Belgorod region, however, this information is still being clarified.
In the meantime, the Ukrainian drones started hitting the Russian objects.
The first target of the Ukrainian strike became an oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region. At least one Ukrainian drone flew almost 1000 kilometers and struck the refinery, causing a fire. Firefighting teams are currently trying to extinguish it.
The second target became a fuel and energy complex facility in the Oriol region. Ukrainian drones hit the oil depots, starting a fire, however, in this particular case, it was extinguished relatively quickly.
The third target became the Ryazan oil refinery. Ukrainians attacked with Mugin-5-pro drones, targeting two oil processing installations at the Ryazan Oil Refining Company’s site. The attack caused a fire, and footage shows a plume of smoke rising from the area.
Another oil refinery was targeted near the second Russian capital, St. Petersburg. Russian sources reported that a mobile group destroyed a drone approaching the oil refining company. Shortly after that, plumes of smoke started coming out of the thermal power plant in the region, suggesting that the Ukrainian target was not the refinery or not only the refinery.
Russian sources, however, reported that the drone missed and hit a warehouse nearby. The last refinery was hit in the Rostov region, reportedly causing the refinery to stop operations.
Apart from oil facilities, Ukrainians also targeted one factory in the Moscow region, 2 airfields in the Voronezh region, and, most importantly, the headquarters of the Russian Federal Security Service in the Belgorod region.
In total, Ukrainian forces used up to 85 drones of various types to strike at least 10 military and energy infrastructure targets. Ukrainian Intelligence stated that these strikes are intended to reduce Russia’s economic output and reduce oil revenue and fuel supplies that Russia uses directly for its war effort in Ukraine.
Russian media outlets reported that Russian refineries reduced their output by 4% this January, while Ukrainian sources claimed that the figure is much higher.
The Institute for the Study of War concluded that the decline in refinery production shows that Ukrainians can generate asymmetrical effects against critical Russian energy and military infrastructure by targeting high-value assets with a few relatively inexpensive drones.
Kremlin snuff box
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Air defense systems are being removed from the front to protect large refineries
The latest attacks on oil refining industry facilities were not as painful as they could have been, but will significantly affect the situation in the future.
To reduce the effect and future losses, several divisions of air defense systems are deployed at once to protect large oil refining and petroleum product logistics facilities.
There is essentially nowhere to get them except from the front. “It’s not right to open Moscow,” our interlocutor at the General Staff explained to us.
Thus, the military command is forced to risk the lives of our guys so that we can continue to sell oil and petroleum products to our partners, including European ones. And this is at a time when the Europeans are transferring more and more weapons and shells to Ukraine for attacks on Russia.
At a time when our military are forced to die under enemy fire on the front line.
Money is more important than lives, it turns out. Naturally, we will not say where exactly several air defense divisions have been transferred, and whether they will continue to expose the front line, but I would like to believe that the command knows what it is doing.
And that this is not just a political, but a completely conscious military decision.
The day before, experts both in the West and in Russia discussed that Ukraine was striking at oil and gas industry facilities up to 1,000 km deep into our country. At such a distance from the Ukrainian border, most of the strategically important enterprises in the industry are located, the risks are high.
At the same time, the authorities assure that neither a shortage nor an increase in fuel prices is expected. At the same time, the government introduced restrictions on gasoline exports.
Kremlin snuff box
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
In the LPR, 14 soldiers were killed as a result of an attack on a training ground. Two instructors arrived from Moscow the day before
Unfortunately, the mass deaths of our military at the front continue. Last night, as a result of an attack on a training ground in Trekhizbenka (LPR), 14 of our servicemen were killed. The strike was carried out by HIMARS missiles, which failed to be shot down.
It is worth clarifying that the training ground is located almost 60 km from the front line, but the strike was targeted. Sources clarified that among the dead were two difficult instructors from Moscow.
They were integrating drones into a unified tracking and combat control system. Very rare specialists with combat experience. The interlocutors suspect that an ill-wisher from among the military or local residents could have aimed the enemy missiles so precisely.
May we rest in peace and eternal memory to the dead.
Kremlin snuff box
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Do I need to leave Belgorod?
We are receiving many reports about the deteriorating situation in Belgorod. The city is under shelling, and there are battles in the region with traitors who are fighting in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. There have already been a lot of false reports online about the supposed start of the evacuation of residents of the regional center.
Both the authorities and the military assure that no evacuation will be required. Residents of border regions are being taken away from the combat zone, but overall there is no threat of losing Belgorod. However, off the record, the interlocutors hint that the shelling may intensify in the coming days.
“The crests have accumulated ammunition and drones, but the infantry has not yet been completely driven out of the border villages. Unfortunately, there are losses,” explained a military source.
A source close to Governor Gladkov advised only those who have small children to travel, and most importantly, there is a place where they can sit for 1-2 weeks. “Little children should not hear the sounds of war,” the official explained briefly. That is, he advises leaving, but at will. No organized evacuation is expected.
To reduce the effect and future losses, several divisions of air defense systems are deployed at once to protect large oil refining and petroleum product logistics facilities.
Sounds like Early Warning (EW) radars deployed with medium range and short range systems.
Without EW radars, the medium/short range systems would struggle.
There is essentially nowhere to get them except from the front.
Amazing...not good news for ruzzia.
Suspension calendar will avoid a ‘rules’ vote which is typically party line and the wackos could torpedo it.
“Johnson says he expects to take up Ukraine aid with Democratic votes”
“Speaker Mike Johnson told POLITICO that he expects to pass a future Ukraine assistance bill with Democratic votes, an acknowledgment of the persistent resistance to any new aid within the GOP.
Johnson said in a Thursday interview at the House Republican retreat that aid to both Ukraine and Israel could come up as one or even two separate bills. He said he anticipates it would happen using the House’s suspension calendar, which he’s used often in recent days to overcome pushback from his own party.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/14/mike-johnson-israel-ukraine-aid-bill-00147108
Interesting.
“Manhattan Prosecutors Propose a 30-Day Delay of Trump Trial”
“The Manhattan district attorney’s office sought to delay Donald J. Trump’s first criminal trial so a new batch of records could be reviewed.”
“Less than two weeks before Donald J. Trump is set to go on trial on criminal charges in Manhattan, the prosecutors who brought the case proposed a delay of up to 30 days, a startling development in the first prosecution of a former American president.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which accused Mr. Trump of covering up a sex scandal during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, said the delay would give Mr. Trump’s lawyers time to review a new batch of records. The office only recently obtained the records from federal prosecutors, who years ago investigated the same hush-money payments at the center of the case.
The potential postponement of the trial, which is scheduled to start with jury selection on March 25, would represent the latest delay on Mr. Trump’s sprawling legal docket, which includes four criminal cases and several civil lawsuits.”
Of course.
““It’s not appropriate when we actually have nuclear weapons”
Macron answers a question on Putin’s nuclear threat.”
“’IMO, every Russian nuke threat should get a response in the form of our senior officials posting a video of a simulation of us turning Russia into a glass parking lot...”
Take the gloves off. Enact some sanctions. Start by banning Orban from entry into the USA.
“US ambassador condemns Hungary’s ‘dangerously unhinged’ postures under Orbán”
“In uncommonly frank language, David Pressman chastises Budapest for “undermin[ing] trust and friendship.”
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman criticized the country’s “dangerously unhinged anti-American messaging” and its “expanding relationship with Russia” on Thursday.
In a fiery speech at the Central European University in Budapest on the 25th anniversary of Hungary’s accession to NATO, Pressman claimed that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was increasingly isolating himself from friends and allies by “saying and doing things that undermine trust and friendship.”
“We can neither understand nor accept the prime minister identifying the United States as a ‘top adversary’ of our ally Hungary,” Pressman said. “Or his assertion that the United States government is trying to overthrow the Hungarian government — literally, to ‘defeat’ him.””
“On a visit to Iran last month, Hungary’s increasingly anti-American foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, denounced Mr. Pressman as “the leader of the Hungarian opposition” in an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.”
“While the Orban government may want to wait out the United States government, the United States will certainly not wait out the Orban administration,” Mr. Pressman said, “While Hungary waits, we will act.”
RuZZia, Belarus, China, Iran.
If not an enemy, definitely an adversary.
“While Hungary’s ties with Washington and most European capitals have frayed, the country has cultivated warm relations with not only Russia, on which it relies for supplies of natural gas and help in building a new nuclear power plant, but also a host of other authoritarian countries including Belarus, China and Iran.”
OilPrice.com reports:
“The vice president of Russian Lukoil, Vitaly Robertus, has been found dead in his office in Moscow, according to a Lukoil, making him the fourth top Lukoil executive to die since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in March 2022.
“It is with deep regret that we inform you that at the age of 54, the vice-president of the company, Robertus Vitaly Vladimirovich, suddenly died,” Lukoil said in a March 13 press release...
...While the Lukoil press release avoided mentioning the cause of death, Russian Telegram channels, both independent and linked to the Kremlin, reported on Thursday that the Robertus had been found “hanged”...
...Another telegram channel by VChK-OGPU news outlet claimed the Lukoil executive had no chronic illness or family problems...
...Robertus’ death follows that of Lukoil Chairman Vladimir Nekrasov, who died of acute heart failure in October 2023 and previous chairman Ravil Maganov, who died after apparently falling out of a window of a Moscow hospital in August 2022. Prior to that, in May 2022, former top Lukoil manager Aleksandr Subbotin was found dead in the basement of a home outside of Moscow under mysterious circumstances, according to an RFE/RL report.
Japan Looks to Restart the World’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant
OilPrice.com:
“Japan is stepping up efforts to have local authorities approve the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility north of Tokyo, Japanese newspaper Niigata Nippo reported on Friday...
...Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has been offline since 2012...
...The regulator lifted the operational ban on Kashiwazaki-Kariwa in December 2023...
...Japan is bringing back nuclear power as a key energy source, looking to protect its energy security in the wake of the energy crisis that led to surging fossil fuel prices. The resource-poor country which needs to import about 90% of its energy requirements, made a U-turn in its nuclear energy policy at the end of 2022, as its energy import bill soared amid the energy crisis and surging costs to import LNG at record-high prices.
The Japanese government confirmed in December 2022 a new policy for nuclear energy, which the country had mostly abandoned since the Fukushima disaster in 2011. A panel of experts under the Japanese Ministry of Industry has also decided that Japan would allow the development of new nuclear reactors and allow available reactors to operate after the current limit of 60 years.
Restarts of nuclear reactors, high natural gas inventories, and increased renewable power generation have dragged Japan’s LNG imports to multi-year lows in recent months.”
Take the gloves off. Enact some sanctions. Start by banning Schumer from entry into the Isreal.
“US ambassador condemns America’s ‘dangerously unhinged’ postures under Schumer”
“In uncommonly frank language, David Pressman chastises Schumer for “undermin[ing] trust and friendship.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel criticized the country’s “dangerously unhinged anti-Israeli messaging” and its “expanding relationship with Hamas” on Thursday.
RuZZia, Belarus, China, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS
Interesting articles:
New Jetty Being Built Off Gaza Beach As Maritime Aid Missions Spin Up
It’s unclear if the U.S. will use the jetty for its aid operation, but U.S. ships are heading to the Mediterranean to execute Biden’s plan.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/new-jetty-being-built-off-gaza-beach-as-maritime-aid-missions-spin-up
Our First Look At The ALTIUS-700M Loitering Munition Obliterating A Target
Able to knock out armor at standoff ranges, the latest loitering munition in the ALTIUS series is the most destructive yet.
https://www.twz.com/air/our-first-look-at-the-altius-700m-loitering-munition-obliterating-a-target
Phalanx CIWS Costs $3,500 Per Second In Ammo To Fire
The Navy’s Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems spit out 75 tungsten-cored rounds every second at $46 a pop, which is still a comparative bargain.
https://www.twz.com/sea/phalanx-ciws-costs-3500-per-second-in-ammo-to-fire
This is Pervyy Zavod, the largest petrochemical company in the Kaluga region.
https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1768574829140038113
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.