Posted on 08/02/2023 6:38:18 AM PDT by SpeedyInTexas
Look at the Ukrainian equipment loss website:
https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-ukrainian.html
Any equipment with an American flag next to it, will be a piece given to Ukraine and lost.
🔥🔥🔥 In Russia 🇷🇺 & temporarily 🇷🇺-occupied Crimea, there were at least 28 attempts to set fire to Military Enlistment offices in the past five days.
https://twitter.com/officejjsmart/status/1686759434561728512
A clear indication that Russian citizens are getting tired of the war.
In WA, the shortage is only seasonal and could be easily remedied by building reservoirs, which would hold some of the winter run off and prevent flooding at the same time.
Fav video of the day
“Can’t park there mate.”
https://twitter.com/parrot_soldier/status/1686755068761063426
Slow but steady progress
“DeepState reports that Ukrainain forces made gains on the northern outskirts of Mykil’s’ke, southeast of Vuhledar. Also, The 72nd mechanized and 79th Air Assault brigade pushed out Russian forces from their positions north of Solodke.”
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1686791590025588738
“Just in: the US Department of Defense is expected to announce another military aid package to Ukraine next week.”
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1686788017082560524
When entering or exiting a vehicle, look up.
“The drama surrounding Gonzalo’s (Lira?) fate”
What is the drama?
The ruble dropped a couple of percent today, to around 94 to the dollar (about a 5% drop in a week). It was around 30 before Putin invaded the Ukraine (in 2014).
I wonder what prompted that recent move?
Soon the ruble will be less than a penny, and later, likely junk.
“Video from Ukraine’s 54th Mechanized Brigade’s K2 unit of FPV loitering munition strikes on a Russian tank, MT-LB, BTR, trucks, and other positions.”
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1686817763182919686
“The US Senate has been evacuated due to a possible shooting in the building.
The video was shot in the US Capitol
People are being escorted out of the Senate building “with their hands up” after reports of an active shooter”
ISW RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 1, 2023
“Key Takeaways:
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) accused Ukraine of attempting to attack two Black Sea Fleet patrol boats with unmanned semi-submersibles on August 1.
Likely Ukrainian actors conducted another drone strike on Moscow City in the early hours of August 1.
The Russian MoD continues to posture Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov as an effective and involved overall theater commander in Ukraine.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko may have signaled his intent to use the Wagner Group to create a foundation for an unspecified Belarusian “contract army.”
Two Belarusian helicopters reportedly violated Polish airspace on August 1.
Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and reportedly advanced near Bakhmut on August 1.
Russian companies not under Western sanctions continue to recruit volunteers to fight in the war in Ukraine.
Iran is pursuing the construction of drone factories in Belarus and Russia, which will help Russia acquire Iranian drones more readily and provide Iran with numerous economic and military benefits.
Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, on the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on August 1 and made advances in certain areas.
Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on August 1 and advanced near Kreminna and Bakhmut.
The Russian Cabinet of Ministers granted Russian volunteer fighters and Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic (DNR and LNR) militia fighters (opolcheniye) veteran status on August 1.
Russian occupation authorities continue to deport children from occupied regions of Ukraine to Russia under the guise of education and rehabilitation programs.”
“Attacks on Russian tourists and migrants continue. Footage from two countries: Georgia and Turkey.”
https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1686815755210211359
“Gonzalo Lira made the genius decision to announce he was planning to flee Ukraine while on bail, and unsurprisingly, it appears he’s been arrested. That’s the sort of thing you should avoid posting for likes before you’ve actually done it.”
https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1686805015787171846
Putin has changed the world - at least the natural gas market in Europe. Russia is no longer Europe’s biggest supplier - Norway is, and the USA is second. Russia has become nearly irrelevant.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Europes-LNG-Imports-Fall-To-20-Month-Low.html
Aug 02, 2023
“Europe’s benchmark natural gas prices have fallen in recent months and are now 80% lower than the records seen last summer amid ample gas inventories with storage sites on track to be full well in advance of EU targets.
EU gas storage levels are much higher than the five-year average and the levels from this time last year, easing concerns about Europe’s gas supply. The EU gas storage sites were 85% full as of July 31, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.”
I saw Russian blogger claim that you can’t even buy rubles at 130 to dollar. So it may be far worse than the stats let on.
Down almost 35% year/year. Down 40% year/year vs Gold, despite being "tied to the price of gold". If Russia, with the the highest Gold Reserves/GDP of any large economy, can't stabilize its currency with gold, it seems unlikely any country or group could.
I wonder what prompted that recent move?
Since there is very limited trading of the Ruble in the west, I suspect the main driver is Chinese currency manipulation. China is the elephant in the Russian tea room... Also possible events in Africa are somehow influencing the Ruble.
First, Lira entered and announced his presence in Ukraine when he knew there was a warrant for his arrest. Then when he was granted unsupervised release on bail, he announced his “slow motion escape”, including route. If he is rearrested and imprisoned, he will be getting exactly what he wants.
“I saw Russian blogger claim that you can’t even buy rubles at 130 to dollar.”
That’s interesting.
I’d guess that street prices would vary more from official exchange rates, as the trading in the currency became more removed from economic reality, due to the Government’s capital controls and artificial policies.
Probably a lot of imports don’t want to paid in rubles, if they can avoid it anymore (and everything nice in Russia is made somewhere else).
People also probably have to pay a smuggler’s premium to get their capital out of Russia now, and need to convert it to a hard currency off the books somewhere to do so.
India and China just want to buy Russian oil in Rupees and Yuan.
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