Posted on 01/28/2024 7:12:54 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
Italy about to also...
Kyiv post reports:
“Antonio Tajani, Italy’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, announced that Rome is about to sign a bilateral security cooperation agreement with Ukraine, ANSA reported.”
U.S. military supply flights to Ukraine via Poland are back on.
“First US moon landing in 50 years set to take place Thursday evening: Watch live”
https://thehill.com/video-clips/4483627-america-attempts-first-moon-landing-in-50-years-watch-live/
Commutations not established
Search for lander could continue for 12-14 hours
Keyword is patience. Receiving a faint signal from the high gain antenna, but nothing more yet.
Odysseus Lander is on the moon and is transmitting, but it may have crashed. Awaiting an image sometime in the future.
CNN reports:
“Intuitive Machines, the company behind the Odysseus lunar landing mission, has confirmed the spacecraft is “upright and starting to send data.””
Interesting articles:
Ukrainian FPV Drones Hunt, Kill Russian Armor Inside Building
Footage of the strikes underscores the dynamic ways FPV drones are being used to seek and destroy in areas previously not possible.
https://www.twz.com/news-features/ukrainian-fpv-drones-hunt-kill-russian-armor-inside-building
Ukrainian drone operators located a concentration of Russian hardware inside a large warehouse somewhere in the south of Ukraine, preparing for an assault.
The very skilled drone operators sent in several drones and eliminated several MBTs, IFVs, trucks and more. In the end, the fire set the entire warehouse ablaze and destroyed whatever was left.
—
https://t.me/wild_hornets/866
We [ Ukrainian Bulava strike unit of the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Separate Presidential Brigade ] brought you incredible news and video 💥
In one working day, the fighters of the Bulava strike unit from the B Khmelnytskyi OPBr used drones worth 200,000 hryvnias and burned tens of millions of enemy equipment ❗️
The Pidars were collecting equipment for an offensive in the south, but Ukrainian pilots tracked them down and shot them with Wild Hornets drones like in a shooting range.
Notice how the pilot professionally and systematically flies into the hangar and selects the equipment to destroy. As a result, the entire hangar completely burned down.
In total, on that day, the Mace pilots destroyed:
🔥 Two C60 installations based on ZIL
🔥 Two T72 tanks
🔥 BMP-3
🔥 Rare Terminator armored combat vehicle
🔥 Gazelle
🔥 Two Urals from BC
—
Wild Hornets: Ukraine’s Tiny Armor-Busting, Trench-Clearing Secret Weapon
Fast, low-cost and multi-functional – Wild Hornet drones smash enemy tanks on the frontline. But fundraising is vital to keep supply up with demand.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/19227
Kremlin snuff box
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
In the Avdeevka area, our military fell into a trap. Unfortunately, many died
Our troops tried to build on their success in the Avdiivka direction of the front. An attempt to advance in one of the sections ended in tragedy.
“In the Lastochkino area the enemy deceived us. He pretended to retreat. One of the commanders ordered to urgently move forward. They didn’t do any reconnaissance or anything, they just ran straight and flew into the attack. As a result, we fell into a trap. They shot us like in a shooting gallery,” a fighter who miraculously survived this offensive attempt told us.
According to a source in the General Staff, 28 soldiers were killed in the unsuccessful attack and another 14 were wounded. Two infantry fighting vehicles were lost.
Unfortunately, the losses of our troops in the Avdiivka direction continue to be hidden. A number of officers are ready to talk about them openly, just so that there are no more to the memory of the dead insulting statements about “minimal losses”, as came out in Sergei Shoigu’s recent report to Vladimir Putin. But, they are not yet allowed to tell the truth.
Well, we will continue to inform you about real events at the front.
[ FR Trolls, Please stand at attention and cheer! ]
And, despite everything! We would like to once again congratulate all military personnel on Defender of the Fatherland Day. It is difficult to congratulate against the backdrop of such tragedies. But we believe in our army! Happy holiday! Victory for all of us!
Kremlin snuff box
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
An unpleasant incident occurred with Putin during a flight on a bomber. After that he remembered Biden
According to our sources in the FSO, during the president’s flight on the Tu-160M missile carrier, the plane hit a turbulence zone.
“Eyewitnesses say that the shaking was serious. In the first seconds, it was clear that Vladimir Vladimirovich was a little scared. But he quickly came to his senses and joked: “Biden is playing around, using climate weapons again,” said one of our interlocutors.
During the flight, Putin also jokingly asked whether missiles from the Tu-160M would reach America, and ( he was seriously interested in this question ) whether it would be difficult to shoot down such an aircraft.
Kremlin snuff box
https://t.me/s/kremlin_secrets
Aksenov announced the threat of destruction of the Crimean Bridge
This is how the head of Crimea reacted to the news that Ukraine could receive new long-range missiles, including American and German ones.
“Sergei Valerievich urgently contacted the military in Moscow. He fears that the enemy will have new missiles soon, and then the Crimean Bridge may be destroyed. He demands that our air defense be strengthened, at least twice,” said a source in the Crimean government.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed the fact of Aksenov’s appeal. But they believe that he is dramatizing the situation.
“It’s just hysterical. Crimean air defense is very strong, look how many missiles and drones are shot down there. But some local politicians throw tantrums at us from time to time. Either Aksenov, then Sobyanin, then someone else. It’s as if they know something better than us, the military,” says our source in the ministry.
When asked whether the air defense of Crimea would be strengthened, he did not answer, citing military secrets.
“the Crimean Bridge may be destroyed”
Maybe the most doomed bridge in the world.
The Guardian reports:
US announces more than 500 sanctions against Russia
“Washington (announced on Friday, 23 Feb, that it) would issue more than 500 new sanctions targeting Russia as the US seeks to increase pressure on Moscow to mark the second anniversary of its war in Ukraine.
The measures, Biden has said, seek to hold Russia to account over the war and the death of opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. Friday’s measures will target individuals connected to Navalny’s imprisonment as well as Russia’s financial sector, defence industrial base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents.”
Reportedly, they are also designed to further reduce energy revenues to Russia
Hungary signs deal to buy Swedish fighter jets amid preparations to approve Sweden's NATO bid
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson in Budapest on Feb. 23 and agreed to purchase four Swedish JAS Gripen fighter jets.
After almost two years of delays, Hungary's parliament is set to bring Sweden's NATO accession to a vote on Feb. 26. The ruling Fidesz party has pledged its support for the ratification, making its passage all but ensured...
..."We not only keep our air defense capability but will increase it ... which means our commitment to NATO will strengthen, and so will our participation in NATO's joint operations," Orban said at a joint press conference with Kristersson.
Kyiv Independent reports:
“Czech President Petr Pavel said at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 17 that the Czech Republic identified around 800,000 artillery shells in non-NATO countries that could be sent to Ukraine within weeks if provided funding ($1.5 Billion) from other partners...
...Unnamed sources told the FT that some EU countries have already contributed to the fund...
...Germany has voiced opposition to proposed reforms to the European Peace Facility (EPF), the EU’s funding mechanism for sustaining European military supplies to Ukraine.
Currently, the EPF primarily functions on a reimbursement model, in which the EU refunds countries for military supplies they send to Ukraine. Germany, which has a substantial preexisting military-industrial complex, would like to see a change to the EU directly funding arms contracts.
Other countries, such as France and Greece, have said that EPF funds should only be used to purchase shells from other EU countries or Norway, which would be at odds with the proposed Czech plan.”
Kyiv Post reports:
“The European Council, according to its official press release, has adopted its thirteenth package of restrictive measures against Russia, marking the second anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
These measures target individuals and entities supporting Putin’s regime and perpetuating the “illegal, unprovoked, and unjustified war of aggression.”...
...The Council’s latest actions include tightening restrictions on Russia’s military and defense sector, with a focus on entities in third countries supplying equipment. Additionally, measures target those responsible for the illegal deportation and military re-education of Ukrainian children.”
Kyiv Post reports:
Russia Focuses Attacks on Ukraine ‘Hot Spot’ Maryinka
“Russia claimed to have captured Maryinka, west of Donetsk, in December 2023, while Ukraine said its forces remained on the outskirts. Fighting was frozen mainly until recent days.”
Feb 22, 2024 - ISW Press
“The pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria may call for or organize a referendum on Transnistria’s annexation to Russia at a recently announced Transnistrian Congress of Deputies planned for February 28. The pretext for such a call would be the purported need to protect Russian citizens and “compatriots” in Transnistria from threats from Moldova or NATO or both.
Russian President Vladimir Putin could, in the most dangerous course of action, declare Russia’s annexation of Transnistria during his planned address to the Russian Federal Assembly on February 29, although that appears unlikely. Putin will more likely welcome whatever action the Transnistrian Congress of Deputies takes and offer observations on the situation.
ISW offers this assessment as a warning for a high-impact event of indetermined probability. Moldovan government officials state that the situation in Moldova is unlikely to worsen as of February 22.”
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