“Russian gas giant Gazprom was ranked as the most unprofitable company in Russia last year”
Putin did that. His leadership has produced some truly epic outcomes, in destroying Russia’s wealth, strength, prestige and influence..
Gazprom got hit with some huge one time write offs, like the loss of their European subsidiaries and Nordstream. Also, they had to pay some big judgements for breaching contracts, to serve as Putin’s energy weapon, in his failed attempt to coerce Europe by throttling gas supplies before the Winter of 22.
Gazprom can still operate profitably on some significant projects, and in their domestic market (at a significantly reduced level long term), but some of their major projects for the future also seem to be casualties of Putin’s disastrous reign, like the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, and the Arctic 2 LNG project (previously Russia’s biggest natural gas deals for future expansion, now imploding).
Half of Russia’s shells used in Ukraine supplied by North Korea. https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3328416/posts?page=24#24
Reporting From Ukraine:
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The complete transcript.
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[ Tanks Unleashed! Ukrainians Cut Off Russian Bridgehead! ]
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Today [ Oct 05 ], there are a lot of updates from the Svatove direction.
Here, amid mounting pressure from powerful Russian assaults threatening a breakthrough from their strategic bridgehead on the Zherebyets River, Ukrainian command responded with a bold move. The elite 3rd Assault Brigade was deployed, setting the stage for a crucial counterattack to stabilize the defense line against a larger force.
The Russian objective in this part of the front is to gain full control over the remaining areas of the Luhansk region, and use the bridgeheads near Makiivka to launch assaults on the northern Donetsk region. The heavy concentration of Russian forces, combined with months of continuous attacks, has greatly strained the Ukrainian defense efforts.
The Ukrainian command initiated a series of counterattacks using the 3rd Assault Brigade north of Makiivka, aiming to sever one of the key Russian supply routes to the town. This strategy forced the Russians to shift their focus from consolidating their bridgehead at Makiivka, giving Ukrainian forces the opportunity to fortify their defenses before the Russians resume their assaults.
The 3rd Assault Brigade is one of the most elite units of the Ukrainian army. The organization of this brigade was strategically designed to create a highly mobile, well-equipped, and extensively trained force capable of engaging in offensive and active defensive operations alike.
The Ukrainians began their operation by deploying thermite flamethrower drones to burn down tree lines surrounding Russian dugouts and trenches. By eliminating this cover, they significantly improved visibility for operators of standard FPV drones, making it easier to detect larger groups of Russian troops.
As the tree lines were set ablaze, Ukrainian drone operators were able to target and eliminate more Russian soldiers. Even when drones missed their mark and hit nearby trees or branches, the resulting shrapnel still wounded or killed nearby Russian forces.
The deployed drones also relayed information about Russian positions to artillery and mortar operators of Ukrainian artillery groups. The artillery groups of the 3rd Assault Brigade are equipped with modern British AS-90 self-propelled artillery whose artillery shots were accurate to the point that Russian troops got destroyed even while moving.
After heavy artillery and drone strikes weakened Russian positions and destroyed a significant portion of their defenses, the fighters of the 3rd Assault Brigade launched ground assaults. T-64-BV tanks advanced toward Russian positions to target areas that hadn’t been fully neutralized by artillery and drones. Once their objectives were achieved, the tanks deployed smoke grenades to cover their retreat and withdrew from the battlefield.
With most of the Russian defenses destroyed, Ukrainian stormtroopers were deployed in M113 armored personnel carriers. Upon dismounting, they launched a coordinated sweep of the Russian positions. Many Russian soldiers, already disoriented from the earlier shelling and drone strikes, had taken cover in their dugouts.
However, unfortunately for the Russians, the Ukrainian stormtroopers quickly engaged and eliminated those that remained. In the end, only one Russian soldier surrendered, providing critical intelligence on nearby Russian units. He was the sole survivor of the assault, as all others were killed in action.
Interestingly, despite being outnumbered 2 to 1, the Ukrainians secured new positions through the well-coordinated efforts of their units. These assaults north of Makiivka forced the Russians to divert their forces to the northern flank in an attempt to stabilize the situation.
Although the Russians have launched counterattacks to reclaim the lost positions, the 3rd Assault Brigade continues to hold the line by utilizing continuous active defense approach.
Overall, the Ukrainians managed to delay the Russian months-long infantry-intensive assaults on Makiivka and bought the Ukrainian forces near the town enough time to fortify the west bank of the river, before the Russians engaged.
Ukrainian stormtroopers managed to shift focus of the Russians, which forced them to redirect a portion of their forces to counterattack lost positions to no avail. Such continuation of Ukrainian operations can enable them to uppercut the Russian Makiivka bridgehead from the north, by assaulting Novovodiane and forcing Russia to withdraw from Makiivka, as Ukrainians are now in a better position to exert fire control over the lowlands along the river.