Posted on 02/24/2024 5:59:01 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
“Last Thursday night, around 11:00, residents of western and central Syria heard the sounds of a large number of huge explosions in the direction of the Masyaf area near the Syrian-Lebanese border. These explosions were not the only thing that happened in Masyaf this evening.
1 🧵
Α security source confirmed to me that last Thursday evening, special forces from the |#IDF carried out a special operation against a military facility belonging to the #IRGC, six kilometers southwest of the Syrian city of Masyaf.
2/
The operation began with an air strike targeting a number of roads leading to the military facility, in addition to a headquarters affiliated with the Syrian military security and the facility’s security points. Then, Israeli military helicopters carrying Israeli special forces moved towards the facility, supported by combat helicopters and drones, to prevent any forces from the Assad regime from reaching the area.
3/
The operation lasted for about an hour, during which the Israeli special forces were able to enter the facility, withdraw important equipment and documents, mine the facility from the inside, then destroy it and withdraw under air cover through fire belts surrounding the site, to prevent any air movements by Assad’s warplanes.
4/
The targeted facility is directly affiliated with the #IRGC and is responsible for developing ballistic missiles and drones and provides logistical support to the #Hezbollah militia in #Lebanon. The facility has been operating for more than ten years and was subjected to Israeli air strikes last year.
5/
This special operation in #Syria is considered an important development in the recently escalating scene in the Middle East. It is certain that what happened in Masyaf will become more clear in detail as the days pass and may be an indication of the imminence of a new escalation, whether on the Syrian or Lebanese arena.
6”
https://twitter.com/evacool_/status/1833940426891665748
Preparing to be STORMED?
“***UPDATE***
#Russian navy starbursts from Novorossiysk earlier today. Likely drill against #Ukrainian air attack. This is now their main base in Black Sea
Not visible in this lower resolution imagery, but the Improved-KILO Class submarines likely submerging at their berths to reduce exposure”
https://twitter.com/CovertShores/status/1833970310376554993
A SHADOW is a coming?
“This doesn’t look like an exercise for air defence. Looks like a substantial sortie with at least one corvette clearing the harbour entrance and probably tasked to sweep the coordinated departure route. I cannot see why you’d go to this effort simply to get off the wall for AAW.”
” You could say it’s to test an immediate departure if there were indications of an inbound raid but, even with main engines rung on IF you could maintain that posture indefinitely alongside, you’ll still need all crew onboard and it still takes time to get all lines clear /1
Then you’ll need a very strict order of departure. If the wind isn’t in your favour tugs will be essential to at least get off the wall and with other ships trying manoeuvre in the inner basin, to stop you all running into each other/2
Another issue is you may foul each others arcs for CIWS and associated FC systems if the threat is low in terminal phase. Chaff definitely will NOT be an option /3
Handling ropes, wires and fenders in the dark at action stations has its own inherent difficulties as it’s not usually conducted in State 1. It’s dangerous enough normally but under air attack it’ll be pretty hazards to say the least. Manoeuvring in that restricted berth, more so
So what they up to? Do they genuinely think there’s an impending strike threat and given warning, they could carry out a coordinated departure? Even one of the Krivaks was starting up main engines (not both interestingly). Or did they sortie for another reason…”
https://twitter.com/FifTimeLucky/status/1834023978513355096
The old ground drone trick...
“A ground drone seemed to have come to visit the Russo with a 155mm shell or some kind of I E D”
https://twitter.com/Heroiam_Slava/status/1834195985309823294
Wow, what can I say.
Blackrock, corruption, defense stocks.
What is JDs handle on FR?
“JD Vance beats the Guinness Book of World Record for the most Kremlin talking points ever read in under one minute.”
https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1834246110224818362
Great times in America!
“US Household Net Worth Climbs to Record on Home Values, Stocks”
“US household wealth reached a fresh record in the second quarter, fueled by a steady rise in the value of real estate and Americans’ stock holdings.
Household net worth increased $2.76 trillion, or 1.7% from the prior quarter, to $163.8 trillion, a Federal Reserve report showed Thursday. The value of real estate held by households climbed about $1.75 trillion, the most in a year, while the value of equity holdings rose about $662 billion.
The S&P 500 advanced in the April-to-June period to a record on optimism about corporate earnings and prospects for Fed interest-rate cuts. Meanwhile, home values remained lofty amid limited inventory in the resale market.”
Yep he sure does ... spout Kremlin talking points.
“Biden Poised to Approve Ukraine’s Use of Long-Range Western Weapons in Russia”
“The topic will be on the agenda Friday with the first visit to Washington by Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer.”
“President Biden appears on the verge of clearing the way for Ukraine to launch long-range Western weapons deep inside Russian territory, as long as it doesn’t use arms provided by the United States, European officials say.
The issue, which has long been debated in the White House, is coming to a head on Friday with the first visit to Washington by Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer.
Britain has already signaled to the United States that it is eager to let Ukraine use its “Storm Shadow” long-range missiles to strike at Russian military targets far from the Ukrainian border. But it wants explicit permission from Mr. Biden in order to demonstrate a coordinated strategy with the United States and France, which makes a similar missile. American officials say Mr. Biden has not made a decision, but will hear from Mr. Starmer on Friday.
“Video from Ukraine’s 46th Airmobile Brigade repelling a large scale Russian armored assault this morning with 46 tanks and armored vehicles as well as motorcycles. “
https://x.com/RALee85/status/1834332262911123959
But BRICS is going to save RuZZia...
6 years down, 24 more years to go to match Japan’s ‘lost decades’.
“Asia-Pacific markets mixed as China sets six-year low, Australia nears all time high”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/13/asia-markets.html
Chinese people won’t invest in stocks or real estate, so only Chinese Gov Bonds and Gold are viable options.
But RuZZian Boys on FR post ‘BRICS NEWS’ because BRICS is going to save RuZZia
BRICS, RICKS, DICKS
“China Bond Yields Sink to Record Low with Intervention in Focus”
“China’s government bonds extended an advance, sending benchmark yields to a record low, as traders piled into the securities despite the authorities’ pushback against the rally.
The yield on the most actively traded 10-year sovereign notes slid to 2.075%, a level unseen since official record became available in 2002. The move came even as state banks were seen becoming more active in selling long-dated bonds in the secondary market in recent days, a sign the People’s Bank of China may have intervened to cool the rally.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues rhetorical efforts aimed at influencing the ongoing Western policy debate about granting Ukraine permission to use Western-provided weapons against military objects in Russia, although Russia has not previously escalated militarily against perceived Western violations of Russia's “red lines.”[19] Putin reiterated claims on September 11 that Ukrainian strikes against Russia using Western-provided weapons would represent an escalation in the war in Ukraine and directly involve Western countries in the war.[20] Putin and other Kremlin officials routinely accuse the West of escalating and being directly involved in the war as part of the Kremlin's ongoing reflexive control campaign aimed at coercing the West into making policy decisions that benefit the Kremlin, such as not allowing Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons to strike military objects in Russia or delaying Western military assistance to Ukraine.[21]
The Kremlin has previously threatened military escalation should the West cross its so-called “red lines,” but has never significantly responded to any US or Western provision of military assistance to Ukraine.[22] The Kremlin has also demonstrated that it is unwilling to escalate in response to Ukraine's ongoing incursion into Kursk Oblast, which has lasted for over a month and has included Western-provided equipment and conducting strikes with Western-provided HIMARS within Russia.[23] Putin's September 11 rhetoric is therefore not an inflection in typical Russian rhetoric about the risk of escalation of the war in Ukraine and is likely intended to influence the ongoing Western policy debates about Ukraine's ability to strike military targets in Russia with Western-provided precision weapons.[24] Delays in Western policy decisions in support of Ukraine's defense have resulted in critical delays of military assistance to Ukraine, forcing Ukrainian counteroffensives to culminate and allowing Russia to seize the theater-wide initiative, as ISW has previously reported.[25]
more + maps https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-12-2024
Putin drew a new red line. But it seems he made a serious mistake.
The West continues to discuss the issue of lifting restrictions on Ukraine's use of long-range missiles on Russian territory . Britain has given the go-ahead for the use of its Storm Shadow missiles, the United States is holding off for now, but has also almost made such a game-changing decision regarding ATACMS. And then Vladimir Putin made his weighty statement. He stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ strikes with high-precision Western weapons on Russian territory would mean that NATO countries are directly participating in the war. “(Speaking about the decision to allow such strikes) we are talking about making a decision on whether NATO countries are directly participating in the military conflict or not,” Putin said. Moreover, this decision, according to the president, “will change the very essence, the nature of the conflict.” In essence, the president emphasized that NATO would thus enter a war with Russia.
But there is a nuance.
Both Storm Shadow and ATACMS have previously been used in Crimea and new regions of the Russian Federation. More than once. It turns out that, trying to put NATO bureaucrats in their place, Vladimir Putin admitted that there is Russian territory that cannot be touched... And there is Crimea, the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which may continue to suffer from attacks by high-precision Western weapons. It is significant that neither the Kremlin nor the Foreign Ministry commented on these words of the president.
Our interlocutor in the diplomatic corps, on condition of anonymity, noted that he did not expect such a statement from the president. “It is clear that this was an attempt to outline a strict red line. But what then? They will now strike with missiles at, say, Kursk or Belgorod, and then what? Will we bomb London or Washington? Come on. There are no suicides here (in Moscow - Ed.),” the source said. He emphasized that Vladimir Vladimirovich was probably mistaken. And now he has put himself in a difficult position, when he will have to somehow respond to the use of long-range missiles. And it turned out awkward with Crimea.
Wonder if that was the Russian large scale attack in the Kursk region that CNN reported this AM as a failure?
Chinese people won’t invest in stocks or real estate
—
Which presents a conundrum. To get married, a Chinese male must own property (a place to live with his bride and acceptable to both families). But buying property is a money loser. How to get married, without buying property, and still be accepted by his and the bride’s family?
Putin continues rhetorical efforts
—
Its odd, the Putin we see in these clips - he says the same thing, in the same way, but against different backgrounds, then there is something indefinably odd about him - like its an AI generated Putin.
It’s not unlikely.
British counter-terror police have launched an investigation into the death of Telegraph journalist David Knowles, 32, who hosted an acclaimed podcast about war-torn Ukraine
The Gibraltar police confirmed it had launched a probe, as had the coroner in the British Overseas Territory.
A Counter Terrorism Policing spokesman said: “A request to UK Policing was received from the Royal Gibraltar Police to assist. Due to the existing capability and experience of dealing with international inquiries, support is being provided.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-counter-terror-police-probe-33658942
I too have found it curious . On one hand Donbas, Crimea, kherson and Kharkiv are “part” of Russia according to putin, yet his threats of using long range western weapons seems to make that claim invalid
Fascinating
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