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Articles Posted by marcusmaximus

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  • Ukraine calls on Belarus to pull back forces from border

    08/25/2024 12:47:07 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 38 replies
    Yahoo News UK ^ | 8/25/2024 | Reuters
    Ukraine on Sunday called on Belarus to pull back what it described as significant levels of Belarusian forces and equipment deployed at their common border. The Ukrainian foreign ministry warned Belarus against making "tragic mistakes" while under pressure from Moscow. A ministry statement urged the Belarus armed forces "to stop unfriendly actions" and withdraw their troops out of range of the border. The ministry said Belarus special forces and former Wagner mercenary fighters were among the troops at the border. Their equipment included tanks, artillery, air defence systems and engineering equipment, located in the Gomel region near Ukraine's northern border.
  • Zelenskiy touts new 'drone missile', calls Putin 'sick old man'

    08/24/2024 4:43:39 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 13 replies
    Reuters ^ | 8/24/2024 | Tom Balmforth and Olena Harmash
    President Volodymyr Zelenskiy touted a newly developed Ukrainian "drone missile" on Saturday that he said would take the war back to Russia and scornfully derided Russia's Vladimir Putin as a "sick old man from Red Square". As Ukraine marked 33 years of post-Soviet independence, Zelenskiy said the new weapon, Palianytsia, was faster and more powerful than the domestically made drones that Kyiv has so far used to fight back against Russia, striking its oil refineries and military airfields. "Our enemy will ... know what the Ukrainian way for retaliation is. Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged," he said. Zelenskiy said the new class...
  • Putin declares state of emergency after huge kamikaze drone strike

    08/24/2024 11:30:17 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 56 replies
    Metro UK ^ | 8/24/2024 | Sara Odeen-Isbister
    A state of emergency was declared in the Voronezh region of Russia after akamikaze drone strike caused a major blaze at an ammunitions warehouse. There were several explosions and huge flames for hours after the Ukraine hit in Ostrogozhsk overnight. At least 200 people were evacuated and two people were injured, one seriously, in the district. Regional governor Aleksandr Gusev acknowledged there was a ‘detonation of explosive objects’ and claimed the ignition came from the falling debris from a drone. Russian channels, meanwhile, confirmed that an ammunition warehouse had been struck. Ukrainian forces are engaged in a long-term campaign of...
  • Russian military caught 'looting their own villages' as Vladimir Putin quickly loses grip

    08/24/2024 6:00:32 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 70 replies
    Express UK ^ | 8/24/2024 | Oli Smith
    The videos of Russian soldiers ransacking businesses show that order is breaking down in parts of Kursk that Russia is desperately trying to defend. -snip- Videos from security cameras this week shared on social media have shown Russian soldiers ransacking supply warehouses, pharmacies, phone stores, and clothing shops. Many of the videos come from Glushkovo, a village still under Russian military control. In one video, a Telegram user films a street in Glushkovo and reveals that every shop on the street has been ransacked and left in disarray. One CCTV camera also showed soldiers in Glushkovo stealing from a Wildberry...
  • Russian Conscripts Are Dying in Kursk. How Will the Kremlin Control the Narrative?

    08/23/2024 11:46:16 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 49 replies
    National Review ^ | 8/23/2024 | MARK ANTONIO WRIGHT
    A notable outcome of Ukraine’s surprise invasion of the Russian province of Kursk — now stretching into its third week — is the Russian army’s reliance on thousands of unprepared, under-equipped, and poorly led conscripts in its attempt to repel the invasion. It’s often under-appreciated in the West just how unpopular and politically sensitive the draft is in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The use of conscripts in Afghanistan and Chechnya (and their deaths in their thousands) was a huge part of the unpopularity of those wars inside Russia. In those years, the draft set off protests and a Russian “mothers’ movement”...
  • Russia suspends ferry service to Crimea after Ukrainian port attack

    08/23/2024 10:49:21 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 26 replies
    Reuters ^ | 8/23/2024 | Reuters
    Russia has suspended a ferry service between southern Russia and Crimea after a Ukrainian attack the previous day hit a vessel loaded with rail cars carrying fuel, Russia's Transport Ministry said on Friday. Ukraine's Navy said on Friday that it had destroyed a ferry at Port Kavkaz in Russia's Krasnodar region, one of Russia's largest outlets on the Black Sea, which it said had been used to deliver fuel and weapons to Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The Russian Transport Ministry said in a statement that the ferry service to Crimea had been temporarily suspended...
  • Putin Visits Chechen Mosque, Kisses Golden Quran

    08/23/2024 7:45:36 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 36 replies
    Breitbart ^ | 8/22/2024 | John Hayward
    During his visit to Chechnya on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped at the Prophet Isa mosque in Grozny and posed for photos while holding, and kissing, a gold-leaf copy of the Quran. Putin was flanked by his hand-picked Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, and top Chechen Muslim cleric Mufti Saah Mezhiev during his Quran smooch. The Grand Mufti ceremonially read a verse from the Quran, translated into Russian for Putin. The Prophet Isa mosque, constructed in 2020, is a huge and expensive structure that can accommodate 5,000 worshipers at once. “Prophet Isa” is Islam’s version of Jesus Christ, who ranks...
  • Putin Shifts Blame as Kursk Failures Dampen Russians' Approval

    08/23/2024 5:14:19 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 19 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 8/23/2024 | Isabel van Brugen
    Vladimir Putin has sought to shift blame for Ukraine's surprise incursion into the Kursk region, as evidence emerged that his country's handling of the offensive was damaging the Russian leader's image. At a virtual meeting held by Putin Thursday on the situation in Russia's Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions, which border Ukraine, the president told regional officials that the "security issues" in Kursk "are problems that are the responsibility of the security agencies." -snip- "I hope that, as was reported today, interaction between local and regional authorities, the government, and security agencies has been established, and this will also play...
  • Ferry Carrying Fuel Tanks Sinks In Russian Port After Ukraine Missile Strike

    08/22/2024 2:14:01 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 11 replies
    Radio Free Europe ^ | 8/22/2024 | Staff
    Ukrainian forces sank a Russian ferry carrying fuel tanks in a missile strike on a port in Russia's southern Krasnodar region on August 22, Russian officials said. "As a result of the damage, the ferry sank in the waters of the Kavkaz port," the Krasnodar region's operational headquarters said on Telegram. The headquarters reported earlier that "a railroad ferry with fuel tanks in the Kavkaz port was attacked" and that emergency services had been dispatched. Images circulating on social media showed a plume of dark smoke rising in the area of the ferry crossing. The port sits in the Kerch...
  • Russia faces manpower woes after failing to stop Ukraine’s Kursk incursion

    08/22/2024 12:59:15 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 32 replies
    Al Jazeera ^ | 8/22/2024 | John T Psaropoulos
    Ukraine has seized more Russian territory in two weeks than Russia has seized in Ukraine all year. Reinforcements sent by Moscow failed to stop a Ukrainian surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region during its second week, creating a dilemma for the Kremlin – to further tap Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine by diverting more battalions to defend Russia, or to throw new conscripts into the war. Moscow has so far kept regular recruits into the armed forces on rotation at home, sending only contract soldiers to the bloody battlefields of Ukraine. But the Kursk offensive has changed that delicate political...
  • Putin on Kursk failure: Not my fault

    08/22/2024 11:35:04 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 26 replies
    Politico EU ^ | 8/22/2024 | SEB STARCEVIC
    President Vladimir Putin has a message for the Russian region where Ukraine has seized more than 1,000 square kilometers of territory: Don’t blame me. Speaking via videoconference to a meeting of Russian politicians, including the governors of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, Putin said the “security issues” that had arisen in Kursk were “problems that are the responsibility of the security forces.” He added that Moscow would work with “local and regional authorities” and “security agencies” to “play a positive role in achieving the goals that we have here.”
  • Dramatic moment Ukrainian special forces blow up Russian pontoon bridge with Himars strike in latest Kursk battlefield victory - as rattled Putin accuses Kyiv of trying to attack nuclear station

    08/22/2024 9:55:13 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 25 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | 8/22/2024 | PERKIN AMALARAJ
    This is the moment Ukrainian troops destroyed a pontoon bridge in the Kursk region with a HIMARS strike, which could leave thousands of Russian troops stranded. The pontoon crossing in the border region was built by Putin's army after Ukrainian forces destroyed at least three permanent bridges over western Russia's Seim River in recent attacks. Video footage showed drones chasing down trucks and blowing them up. Drones can also be seen crashing into stationary military vehicles, while aerial footage showed the pontoon bridge being decimated. The footage came as Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of trying to strike a nuclear power...
  • Putin brutally mocked for bizarrely managing to wear ear protectors the wrong way

    08/22/2024 9:05:18 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 31 replies
    Daily Star UK ^ | 8/22/2024 | ZITA WHALLEY
    Vladimir Putin has earned himself a slagging after choosing to wear ear protectors in a weird way. The alleged reason is even more ridiculous than it looks. The deranged Russian president was recently spotted at a Chechen shooting range alongside the head of the Chechen Republic and close military ally Ramzan Kadyrov. While the Chechen warlord wore his ear protectors the regular way, on his head, the Russian despot wore the protective gear with the strap jutting out around his chin.
  • Vladimir Putin seen kissing Quran during Chechnya visit as Russia suffers humiliating blow

    08/22/2024 4:07:25 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 16 replies
    Express UK ^ | 8/21/2024 | Chris Samuel
    A clip has emerged online showing Russian warlord Vladimir Putin kissing a copy of the Quran during his visit to Chechnya this week, as Ukraine continues its shock cross-border incursion. Putin also met with Chechnya leader and attack dog Ramzan Kadyrov, with whom he visited the newly constructed "Prophet Jesus" mosque in the capital, Grozny. There the Kremlin leader was presented with a gold-encrusted copy of the Holy Quran, before planting a kiss on it for the cameras.
  • Vladimir Putin on the brink over Kursk response as supporters ask one major question

    08/21/2024 2:30:39 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 26 replies
    Express UK ^ | 8/21/2024 | Aurora Bosotti
    Vladimir Putin's slow response to the incursion of Ukrainian forces into the border region of Kursk could ultimately leave him facing the wrath of his long-time enablers. Russia was caught unprepared by the offensive and reportedly is drafting conscripts to repel some of Ukraine's most battle-hardened units. Putin has a history of responding slowly to various crises in his tenure, and he has so far played down the attack. In his 24 years in power, Putin has portrayed himself as the only person who can guarantee Russia's security and stability but that image has suffered since the war began.
  • Putin inspects troops with Kadyrov on first Chechnya visit since 2011

    08/21/2024 4:34:12 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 33 replies
    Al Jazeera ^ | 8/21/2024 | Staff
    Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov have inspected Chechen troops and volunteers preparing to fight in Ukraine in Putin’s first visit to the North Caucasus region since 2011. -snip- “As long as we have men like you, we are absolutely, absolutely invincible,” Putin told soldiers at the Russian Special Forces University, a training school in Chechnya’s Gudermes, according to a transcript on the Kremlin’s website. “It is one thing to shoot at a shooting range here, and another thing to put your life and health at risk. But you have an inner need to defend the Fatherland...
  • Putin makes surprise trip to Chechnya amid Ukraine's cross-border incursion

    08/20/2024 2:20:13 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 29 replies
    WPLG ^ | 8/20/2024 | Associated Press
    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday made an unscheduled trip to Chechnya, a mainly Muslim republic within the Russian Federation, his first visit in nearly 13 years, as Ukraine's stunning cross-border incursion into western Russia entered its third week. Putin was greeted by Chechnya’s self-styled strongman leader, Ramzan Kadyrov
  • Disgraced US Air Force Guardsman Joins Putin's Military: Video

    08/19/2024 2:10:58 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 14 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 8/19/2024 | Marni Rose McFall
    A former U.S. Air Force member is now working as a drone operator in Russia, according to officials. The Russian Ministry of Defense posted a video to Telegram on Monday in which a man appearing to be Wilmer Puello-Mota said, "I don't consider myself a traitor," and "I love these guys," when speaking about the Russian soldiers he is serving with. -snip- Previously charged with possession of child pornography, Puello-Mota fled the U.S. in January 2024 before his court appearance.
  • Video shows Russian troops taking advantage of chaos in Kursk invasion to ransack mobile phone shop

    08/19/2024 12:36:06 PM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 26 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | 8/19/2024 | Will Stewart and Ed Holt
    Vladimir Putin's forces have been caught red handed going on a looting spree in their own country amid the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk. The Russian 'defenders' took advantage of the chaos caused by the stunning cross-border incursion launched by Kyiv's forces almost two weeks ago to steal goods from a mobile phone shop. A quartet of Moscow's soldiers are seen helping themselves in a MegaFon store in frontline town of Glushkovo in shocking security footage. At least three of the four are thought to be from the elite Chechen assault force Akhmat, which was partially responsible for defending the border...
  • Putin reignites body double rumours with photo of his ‘fabulous cheekbones’

    08/19/2024 10:36:22 AM PDT · by marcusmaximus · 18 replies
    Metro UK ^ | 8/19/2024 | Jasper King
    Rumours of Vladimir Putin body doubles have been circulating for a while and now speculation is rife about the Russian president again. Putin visited Baku, Azerbaijan, between August 18 and 19 to discuss Armenian settlement with the President of Azerbaijan. But some people have noticed there is a problem with Putin’s face in comparison to a meeting he held with the Russian security council just a few days prior. This includes Anton Herashchenko, a former advisor to Ukraine’s government, who is convinced Putin appeared as a body double in Baku. He posted: ‘Putin in Baku looks different from Putin at...