The beauty of capitalism.
“Slovakia Is Arming Ukraine Even Though It Doesn’t Want To”
“Slovakia’s defense minister is pushing for a major boost to ammunition production. Yet while his government steadfastly refuses to arm Ukraine, Slovak-made shells are ending up there.
The central European country aims to increase production of large caliber ammunition shells to 200,000 next year from 125,000 expected this year, said Robert Kalinak, defense minister and a close ally of Prime Minister Robert Fico.
But the government doesn’t have complete control over where the shells end up as it is up to buyers to decide what to do with the ammunition they bought, according to the minister.”
Higher rates for longer in Russia.
Reuters reports today (22 July):
“The Russian central bank is set to hike its key interest rate by 200 basis points to 18% at the July 26 board meeting...
...All 28 analysts agreed that the rate hike was inevitable, with three-quarters of the polled analysts predicting an aggressive 200 basis points hike. Only four analysts saw the possibility of a 100 basis points rise.
“There are no alternatives to the rate hike at the July 26 meeting,” said Oleg Kuzmin from Renaissance.
In the previous Reuters poll on July 2, 10 out of 16 analysts saw the 200 basis points hike...
...In the run-up to the July 26 meeting, the regulator’s rhetoric has hardened, with its governor, Elvira Nabiullina, flagging that the board will focus on the size of a rate increase, not on the need for it.
The central bank said earlier that tight monetary policy is needed for a significantly longer period than was previously foreseen to contain inflation in a more sustainable way.”
Reporting From Ukraine:
https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/videos
Reporting From Ukraine Uncensored Combat Footage (from this and past Reports) is found on Telegram:
https://t.me/RFUEnglish or @RFUEnglish
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The complete transcript.
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[ Starytsia Liberated: Russian Western Flank Crumbles! ]
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Today [ July 22 ], there are a lot of updates from the Kharkiv direction.
The most interesting updates come from the western flank of Vovchansk. Here, the Ukrainians launched a counterattack with the goal of cutting Russians off in Vovchansk, and successfully completed the first stage of the operation.
In the past two months, the situation in Staritsa and Bugrovatka has remained stagnant following their capture by Russian forces. The Russians are maintaining their hold on these villages to secure the ground lines of communication to Vovchansk.
North of Staritsa lies a large forested area and the villages of Ohirtseve and Hatysche, which are situated next to the main supply road for Russian troops in Vovchansk. The Russian defenses in the Staritsa area are relatively weak. Most of their heavy equipment and artillery have been allocated for attacks in Vovchansk, with the expectation that the natural water barrier would simplify their defense strategy.
Additionally, the need to redirect troops to relieve besieged forces at the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant has further strained their resources. As a result, only a few Russian infantry units are left to defend the village, creating a potential opportunity for Ukrainian fighters to exploit.
The goal of the Ukrainians is to advance on Staritsa and establish control of the village, using the nearby forest to the north as cover to covertly amass more troops. Once secured, they would leverage the forest’s concealment to launch an attack on Ohirtseve, potentially overwhelming the village with an unknown number of troops. Capturing Ohirtseve would level the front along the Siverski Donets River, as the river is too wide for Ukrainian forces to ford.
However, gaining this position would give the Ukrainians a significant advantage in Vovchansk, as they would be less than 2 kilometers from the main supply road. This proximity would allow Ukrainian forces to disrupt Russian ground lines of communication using mortars, snipers, and sabotage squads.
Such a significant offensive effort is not meant to be isolated just at Staritsa, because the Ukrainian command is planning an attack from Tykhe located on the eastern flank of Vovchansk.
For the attack on Staritsa, the Ukrainian command has gathered fighters in the villages of Izbitske and Hrafske to the south. The operation has been assigned to the Shaman Special Forces Battalion of Defense Intelligence, known for being among the best-trained units in Ukraine. These fighters specialize in close-quarters combat, ambushes, squad tactics, and reconnaissance.
Combat footage from the area highlights the effectiveness of the Shaman Battalion fighters and the Ukrainian advances. Initially, the Ukrainian fighters moved stealthily through the forests south of the village, using camouflage to avoid detection by nearby Russian squads.
They then destroyed a Russian hideout, capturing one survivor. This success allowed the Ukrainians to establish positions in the forest, where they dug trenches and constructed wooden barricades to repel potential Russian counterattacks.
As Russian troops did not launch any counterattacks, the Ukrainians proceeded with their assault on Staritsa to the north, with a few special forces squads reaching the edges of the village. The experienced and well-trained Ukrainian fighters utilized a variety of weapons, including snipers, rocket launchers, machine guns, and grenades, to suppress Russian firing positions.
This allowed them to establish positions in houses within the village, eventually enabling them to take control of most of Staritsa. The Ukrainian attack successfully broke through Russian defenses into the center of Staritsa, leading the Russians to anticipate another assault to the west of the village. Consequently, the Russians decided to destroy a river crossing on a dam near Staritsa.
This action indicates that the Russians have depleted their combat capabilities in this part of the Vovchansk area and are no longer planning to advance in the region. Instead, they are focused on delaying further Ukrainian attacks by any means necessary.
Overall, the Russian general shortage of troops, which created gaps at some parts of the front, led to gradual crumble of defenses in certain areas, enabling the Ukrainians to initiate a flank attack. Additionally, the Ukrainians are amassing forces in Tykhe, which can further strain the already weakened Russian defenses.
An attack from both the eastern and western flanks could overwhelm the Russians, potentially forcing them to withdraw or face a siege. Even a single vector of advance, if it reaches the main supply road, could effectively cut off Russian forces in Vovchansk.
To prevent this, the Russians would have to relocate troops from other areas, which would only weaken their defenses across the region, facilitating further Ukrainian advances.
Kremlin snuff box, 07/23/24
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Shoigu wants to return? There are rumors among generals about Belousov’s resignation
Several high-ranking military officials shared this information with us. According to one of them, possible reasons for the resignation may be problems with providing fighters in several sectors of the front, difficulties in preparing partial demobilization and a “lack of understanding” of how and, most importantly, when the goals of the Northern Military District will be achieved.
Interlocutors also call Vladimir Putin’s refusal to resign Valery Gerasimov a sign of Belousov’s problems. It is no secret that Belousov would not mind replacing the Chief of the General Staff.
People around Andrei Removich call rumors about his imminent resignation and claims against him nonsense, as well as “the machinations of Gerasimov and Shoigu, who wants to return to the post of Minister of Defense.”
It is worth noting that Putin did not say anything about his intentions to fire Belousov. At the same time, some of our sources in the Kremlin confirmed that they had heard rumors about a possible change in the Minister of Defense.