Posted on 02/24/2024 5:59:01 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
The Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, Russia, is burning.
https://bsky.app/profile/tendar.bsky.social/post/3ly7sw2otcs22
6s video
Putin's Russia has entered a terrifying new stage where no one is safe. What used to be a predictable system of corruption with clear boundaries has collapsed into total chaos. Generals, governors, rectors, oligarchs, theater directors—anyone, regardless of wealth, loyalty, or obscurity—can suddenly be arrested, stripped of property, or publicly humiliated. The old rules are gone. Paranoia is the only rule left.
In this deep dive, we break down how corruption that once acted as a safety net for Russia's elites has turned into a death sentence. Billions in assets no longer protect oligarchs—they mark them for destruction. Petty bribes worth less than a used smartphone can land rectors in the same prison cells as billionaires. The regime is devouring its own, proving that fear, not money, is now the strongest currency in Moscow.
This purge is not about anti-corruption or justice. It's a paranoid system feeding on itself, keeping the ruling class in constant insecurity and ensuring no one dares whisper about succession. The ultimate irony? The Kremlin's own steamroller, once used to crush citizens and opposition, has turned on its drivers. Russia's elite, once untouchable, are now powerless victims of the very system they built.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BUWcJTo0GI
13 min video
Frontline report: Russian drone factories now staffed by teenagers as adult workforce collapses
Students recruited from technical schools now live in guarded dormitories at the Alabuga complex, working under surveillance with punishments for errors and reports of forced overtime.
It is at last becoming clear to Putin he is losing his war against Ukraine. He's running out of money to continue. His National Wealth Fund which is down 75%. His oil and gas revenue has declined dramatically, and he cannot borrow from international institutions. His friends, Xi, Jong Un and Modi are creating distance. They don't come to him; he goes to them begging for help. He has also joined the rest of the world in not knowing what Trump will do next.
Putin's military losses are unsustainable. His post-Soviet Union stocks of arms and ammunition have been bled dry. His tanks losses in the past two weeks are as low as two per day while his infantry losses remain high indicating he has few tanks left. His air force has lost close to 50% of it's aircraft to drone attacks and efficient Ukrainian air defences. Russian pilots no longer want to get close to Ukraine to launch their payloads. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is loath to leave harbour but even there, marine drones have struck capital ships. This week another Russian corvette missile launcher was seriously damaged in the Sea of Azov. Ukraine's new ‘Flamingo’ Cruise missiles are ramp launched, mobile and carry one ton of explosives with a range of 3000km. There is no US or European input or oversight to their use. They can reach almost anywhere in Russia and will be able to strike Russian industry and infrastructure throughout the coming winter.
Read the article:
https://robinhorsfall.substack.com/p/a-desperate-moment-for-putin
“The Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, Russia, is burning.”
One of the posters at your link made the comment, that Ukrainian kinetic sanctions are the solution.
Check.
Maybe not yet Checkmate, but the real king of Russia, it’s oil industry, is now in mortal peril.
“the Russian military command is regrouping and reinforcing its troops in western Donetsk Oblast, likely ahead of a major offensive in Donetsk Oblast…
…the Russian military command is pressuring Russian units to advance during Fall 2025, given that Russian forces did not achieve their given objectives during Summer 2025”
A few more weeks remain before the Fall mud season in October pauses major Ground Operations. After that, it seems likely that Strategic crisis will be striking Russia’s oil revenue - a major, possibly decisive, new phase of the war.
“It is at last becoming clear to Putin he is losing his war against Ukraine”
This reminds me of the condescending assessments often made of Trump - that he did not understand what was happening. They both understand the math of Russian resources, and dependency on oil.
It is a matter of how they will play those cards. Putin tends to bluff and double down, past the point where it is wise, where the downside risk is unaffordable.
Trump keeps the off ramp available to resolve the issue in a manageable lower risk way, when/if Putin decides to cut his losses and fold. But meanwhile, Trump is continuing to move to force the bankruptcy on Russia.
OPEC+ meets tomorrow. Let’s see if they raise production quotas again, as the new long range precision strike guns are leveled at Russia’s oil industry.
Putin had the opportunity to avoid this Doom for Russia,, but it seems that he will take the nation down with him.
Russia launched its largest combined drone and missile strike against Ukraine of the war to date on the night of September 6 to 7 with 823 total projectiles. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 810 Shahed-type and decoy drones from the directions of Kursk, Bryansk, and Oryol cities; Millerovo, Rostov Oblast, Shatalovo, Smolensk Oblast; Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai; and occupied Hvardiiske and Cape Chauda, Crimea.[1] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces also launched nine Iskander-K cruise missiles from Kursk Oblast and four Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from occupied Crimea. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian air defenses downed or suppressed 747 drones and four Iskander-K cruise missiles. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that nine missiles and 54 strike drones struck 33 locations throughout Ukraine and that drone and missile debris fell on eight locations. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian strikes damaged civilian and residential infrastructure in Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia cities; Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast; Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast; Slovyansk, Donetsk Oblast; and Chernihiv and Cherkasy Oblasts.[2] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Russian strikes injured 44 civilians across Ukraine, primarily targeted Kyiv City, and lasted over 7.5 hours.[3] Kyiv City Military Administration Head Timur Tkachenko reported that Russian strikes killed two civilians and injured 20 others in Kyiv City.[4] Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reported and published footage showing that Russian forces struck Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers building within Kyiv City for the first time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.[5] ISW continues to assess that Russia's ongoing large-scale strikes underscore Ukraine's need for continued Western support for Ukraine's interceptor drone program and for the continued supply of Western air defense systems, especially US-provided Patriot systems.[6]
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) attempted to deny that Russian forces struck civilian infrastructure across Ukraine or the Cabinet of Ministers building within Kyiv City. The Russian MoD claimed on September 7 that Russian forces struck drone facilities and airbases in Ukraine.[7] The Russian MoD claimed that Russian forces struck two industrial enterprises on the outskirts of Kyiv City but did not conduct any strikes against any other objects within Kyiv City. Several Russian milbloggers amplified the MoD’s narrative that Russian forces did not strike the Cabinet of Ministers building within Kyiv City.[8] The Kremlin has often denied that Russian forces hit civilian targets in Ukraine despite ample footage, imagery, and Ukrainian official reports to the contrary.[9] ISW continues to assess that Russian strikes are increasingly and disproportionately impacting civilian areas in its dramatically larger-scale strike packages of recent months.[10]
Russian drone strike packages against Ukraine will likely continue to expand as long as Russia is able to increase its long-range strike drone production. Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Spokesperson Colonel Andriy Yusov stated on September 5 that Russia can currently produce 2,700 Shahed-type strike drones per month and an unspecified “significant” number of decoy drones.[11] The GUR indicated in June 2025 that Russia could produce an average of 170 Shahed-type strike and decoy drones per day (about 5,100 per month) and planned to increase production to 190 drones per day (about 5,700 per month) by the end of 2025.[12] Ukrainian officials have previously warned that Russia intends to increase its strike packages to include over 1,000 drones per day in Fall 2025, and Russia's use of over 800 drones in the September 6 to 7 strike package is a significant increase toward this goal.[13] Russia's strike packages against Ukraine will only continue to increase in size as long as Russia is able to continue expanding its Shahed-type drone production unimpeded. More frequent larger-scale Russian strikes will threaten to devastate Ukraine's electrical grid and energy infrastructure ahead of and during the coming winter season.
Russia is continuing to expand its long-range strike drone production in part due to support from the People's Republic of China (PRC). Russia has significantly scaled up its domestic production of Shahed-type drones, including Gerans (Russian Shahed analogues), Garpiyas (Shahed analogues with PRC components), and Gerberas (decoy Shahed variants).[14] Russia primarily produces Shahed-type drones at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) in the Republic of Tatarstan and recently opened a new production line for Shahed-type drones at the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant where Russia already produces Garpiya drones.[15] Russia has recently significantly invested in developing the ASEZ’s drone factory; supporting the plant's infrastructure; and recruiting women, children, and foreigners to work at the ASEZ.[16] Russia is increasingly relying on the PRC for its drone components and would not be able to sustain the pace or mass of its Shahed-type drone production without these components. A recent investigation by the Ukraine-based, open-source intelligence organization Frontelligence Insight found that the ASEZ alone depends on the PRC for at least 41 components to produce its long-range strike drones, including engines, electronic and mechanical components, batteries, antennas, radios, carbon fire, carburetors, and telecommunications components.[17] Frontelligence Insight assessed that many of the drones that Russia claims to have produced domestically are only assembled domestically given the high number of PRC-produced parts in these drones. Russia also opened a dedicated logistics center at the ASEZ to receive and process cargo trains directly from the PRC, likely to streamline the delivery of PRC-produced components for drone production at the ASEZ.[18]
Russia's latest strikes against Ukraine further demonstrate that Russian President Vladimir Putin is disinterested in ending his war in Ukraine and stopping the killing. Russia has consistently intensified its strike packages and capabilities since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in 2022 and has notably accelerated its strikes campaign following the Ukraine-Russia bilateral talks in Istanbul on May 15, 2025, launching 16 combined strikes consisting of over 400 air targets since the talks.[19] Russia's September 6 to 7 strike is the fifth combined strike of over 500 drones and missiles since the August 15 US-Russia summit in Alaska. Putin has repeatedly rejected Ukrainian and US efforts to establish ceasefires on the battlefield and continues to insist that Russia cannot agree to a ceasefire until there is a peace agreement.[20] Putin has also made no effort to prepare Russian society or the Russian information space for an end to the war that results in less than Ukrainian capitulation to all of Russia's original war demands.[21] A Russian milblogger claimed on September 7 that the size of the latest overnight strike demonstrates Russia's “unyielding will” and shows that Russia continues to “politely ignor[e]” US President Donald Trump's repeated condemnation of Russian strikes.[22] The milblogger claimed that negotiations are entering a period of “empty talk.”[23]
Ukraine continued its attacks against military and oil infrastructure in Russia on the night of September 6 to 7. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on September 7 that Ukrainian forces, including elements of the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), struck an oil pumping station near Naitopovichi, Bryansk Oblast, causing a fire near the pumping station and storage tanks.[24] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that this oil production station is part of the Steel Horse oil pipeline, which has a pumping capacity of 10.5 million tons in an unspecified time frame, likely annually. Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces Commander Major Robert “Magyar” Brovdi reported that the facility is important for the transport of petroleum products to Russia from Belarusian refineries, especially the Mozyr and Novopolatsk refineries.[25] The Ukrainian General Staff and Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported on September 7 that the SSO and a pro-Ukrainian resistance group conducted an unspecified attack against the Ilsky Oil Refinery in Krasnodar Krai.[26] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Ilsky Oil Refinery processes 6.42 million tons of oil annually.[27] The Ukrainian SSO reported that the attack destroyed the ELOU-AT-6 oil complex, which is the Ilsky Refinery's primary oil refining complex.[28] Geolocated footage published on September 7 shows a smoke plume rising from the Ilsky Oil Refinery.[29] The Krasnodar Krai operational headquarters claimed on September 7 that drone debris fell on the Ilsky Oil Refinery and caused a fire at one of the processing units.[30] The Ukrainian General Staff also reported on September 7 that Ukrainian forces successfully struck Russian military warehouses in Kursk Oblast but are clarifying the damage.[31]
"...7 per day..."
Awesome!
At 7 per day, UKF will also be able to attack ruzzia's war material production...drone manufacturing, tank manufacturing, aircraft manufacturing, etc.
I would also expect some of the warheads will be "hardened" to attack aircraft shelters and runway denial.
The possibilities are endless.
The cost of gasoline in Moscow may rise significantly The retail price of fuel in the capital may rise significantly. Sources are talking about this off the record.
“There are a number of factors that affect the situation,” the source says. In the capital, as the interlocutors note, the shortage should not be felt. “The attacks on the refinery were much more painful than expected,” a government source said.
Long before the start of the procession, people began to gather at the embankments. The entrance to the service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior from the side of Volkhonka was closed. It was possible to get there only from the side of the Sofiyskaya Embankment - there were metal detector frames.
The Russian Orthodox Church reported that about 20 thousand people are expected at the procession. Columns of Muscovites and guests of the capital line up from the gathering place, the correspondent of MSK1.RU reports. Orthodox Christians sing the prayer “Christ is risen from the dead.” It tells how Christ conquered death by His death, and gave life to the dead by His resurrection.
https://msk1.ru/text/gorod/2025/09/07/76018403/
Кремлевская табакерка
The procession of the cross in Moscow should protect the capital and all our refineries from enemy missiles and drones
We were told about this by a source in the Church close to Patriarch Kirill. “We went to a large and large-scale religious procession for a reason. In the history of Russia, a tragic, but great stage has begun. The enemy threatens with its devilish arrows, directs missiles and drones at our cities. It would seem that there is nowhere to hide from them, but many of our elders received visions of how all the power of the enemy's weapons was falling on Moscow, our capital city. We went out for a procession of the cross. And we believe that the Lord will protect everyone thanks to us,” he explained.
The channel's interlocutor recalled that earlier it was planned to hold separate religious processions near a number of refineries that are subjected to enemy attacks. But the Church decided that one procession of the cross would protect all important objects at once. It should also protect Russia from any crises, poverty and weaknesses, give strength to our military at the front, help the authorities make the right decisions on mobilization (we wrote that the Russian Orthodox Church is now specifically praying for this) and on other important issues. And to bring Russia's Victory closer, “while giving the people an understanding that there are many difficult but great times ahead.”
“It is symbolic that before the procession we struck at Ukraine. One of the capitals of world Satanism, Kiev, was burning. This means that we will succeed. Thanks to Vladimir Vladimirovich for such wonderful cleansing blows,” another high-ranking source in the Church told us.
https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/6146
This will work
“Russia has two NWOs [wars] ahead, it's too early to fight the West.” The Ministry of Defense hopes that Putin scared NATO
Vladimir Putin recently said that NATO troops in Ukraine would be a legitimate target for us. There is hope that the president has frightened the West with this. This opinion was expressed by our high-ranking source in the Ministry of Defense. “I will express a not very popular opinion, but this is my duty, my duty. We have a lot of bravado now - they say, let NATO send troops to Ukraine, we will show them Kuzka’s mother. To be honest, we should not fight with the West yet, although this is a good goal. It's too early yet. Russia has two NWOs ahead - the current one, in Ukraine, and, it seems, in Azerbaijan. Now there will be no time for NATO. Therefore, if Western troops come, for example, in Kyiv, Lviv or Dnepropetrovsk, it will be much more difficult to shell these cities. And it is important for us to shell them,” the channel's interlocutor said.
Therefore, he hopes that Putin frightened NATO countries with his statements, and they “will not create additional difficulties for us.”“Many people will certainly not like my words. But I had to make such a public statement. We have accumulated too many pseudo-patriots who can lead Russia into the abyss,” the source added.
“Therefore, he hopes that Putin frightened NATO countries with his statements”
—
Seems to have frightened 47, as he will be calling Putin today.
“47... will be calling Putin today.”
It is time for Putin to come to Jesus.
The 3,350 ERAM’s that 47 is sending Ukraine in the coming weeks/months, will dwarf the firepower of the few hundred Storm Shadow cruise missiles that Europe has provided over the course of the the last several years.
Now if only he can get the Europeans to step up on the sanctions front.
Kyiv Independent (7 Sep):
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News on Sept. 7 that the U.S. is prepared to work with European allies on new sanctions targeting countries that buy Russian oil, aiming to weaken Moscow’s economy and step up pressure on Russia to reach a ceasefire.
“We are prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our European partners to follow us,” Bessent said.
“We are in a race now between how long can the Ukrainian military hold up, versus how long can the Russian economy hold up.””
It is time for Putin to come to Jesus.
—
The only time that would happen is, if St. Peter lets him through the Gates ...
Otherwise, the SVO will continue to The Last Russian ...
Both can be and are true, nice try. President can handle both🇺🇸
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
