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zelensky reveals cause of counteroffensive failureUkrainian President Vladimir Zelensky attributed the delay and lackluster results of his military’s much-hyped counteroffensive to insufficient weapons and training from Kiev’s Western allies in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday. “We did have plans to start [the counteroffensive] in spring. But we didn’t, because, frankly, we had not enough munitions and armaments and not enough brigades properly trained in these weapons,” Zelensky explained, adding that holding the training outside Ukraine further contributed to the delays. It was this delay, he said, that allowed Russia to “mine all our lands and build several lines of defense,” forcing upon the Ukrainian military “a slower pace of our counteroffensive actions.” “We don’t want to lose our people, our personnel,”Zelensky said, adding, “our servicemen didn’t want to lose equipment because of that.” Zelensky gave similar excuses at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, explaining that Ukraine had wanted to launch the counteroffensive in the spring but decided against it due to a lack of ammunition and training. However, he implied that victory was imminent as soon as the military finished removing the mines that Western stinginess had allowed Russia the time to plant. While Pentagon officials have stressed that it is too early to write the counteroffensive off as a “failure,” the US has refused to supply Ukraine with long-range ATACMS or F-16s, explaining with regard to the latter that there simply is no time or money to train the Ukrainians to fly and maintain the aircraft in time to make a difference in the conflict. Even the Western media has acknowledged the counteroffensive’s lackluster performance. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Ukraine’s military had lost 20% of its weapons in the first two weeks of the operation alone, losses Zelensky also blamed on the insufficient generosity of his Western allies. The Financial Times and Washington Post have both reported this month that the West and US, respectively, are concerned about Ukraine’s lack of progress in the counteroffensive they had promised would deal a decisive blow to Moscow. While NATO has pledged to prop up Ukraine’s military for “as long as it takes” to defeat Russia, the alliance stopped short of inviting Kiev to join during its summit in Vilnius earlier this month. This incensed Zelensky, who called the bloc’s behavior “unprecedented and absurd.” Ukraine has received a massive amount of military aid from NATO members in the last 18 months, with $46.6 billion coming from the US alone. However, Kiev’s allies are running critically low on ammunition, while the publics in Western countries are questioning the wisdom of what is increasingly seen as an open-ended proxy war with a nuclear power. https://www.rt.com/news/580176-ukraine-zelensky-blames-weapons-counteroffensive/
PICTURE AT TOP: ... Claiming she initially came to Ukraine last year to do ordinary volunteer work, lending a hand at women’s shelters and orphanages in Lviv, Koung told the Beast she soon tired of helping those in need because she had done it before back home. “It didn't feel like anything unique to what I had back in the States,” she complained. “I wanted more. I wanted to be with the military.” She opted to expand her volunteering horizons as “an emotional support person for English-speaking soldiers” and was soon romantically involving herself with a slew of Ukrainian men, overcoming the language barrier with the help of Google Translate. She claimed to be dating four when she was interviewed by the Beast in Kharkov - a drone operator, a power plant worker, and two information technology workers - though she didn’t reveal if any of them knew about the other three. She also dates the foreign soldiers who have volunteered their own services to the Ukrainian cause, she said. “People don’t talk about the sexual needs of the people of [a] country at war,” she told the outlet. Koung lamented that not all westerners were supportive of her sex tourism, revealing that when she joined a group chat for humanitarian workers, “these guys just tore me for three days straight,”accusing her of wanting to “make porn off of mass graves.” She blamed sexism. The scantily-clad influencer allegedly continues to do “humanitarian work,” according to her OnlyFans, defined as “cash donations to Ukrainians in need and volunteers I can see with my own eyes who are doing good work, social media, kitchen help, water runs to frontline villages, English practice for kids, etc.” Her online business is technically illegal under Ukrainian law, which prohibits the “sale or distribution of pornographic images or other items” with penalties including fines or up to three years’ jail time. However, making content for OnlyFans in particular has become a popular line of work among Ukrainians whose lives have been upended by the conflict, according to the Daily Beast.
https://www.rt.com/news/580180-influencer-stripper-onlyfans-ukraine-soldiers/
WE KNEW THAT THE UKRAINIAN ARMY WAS FORCING YOUNG MEN TO GO AND DIE AT THE FRONT BUT....
MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN:
NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT) THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN. CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954 A MEMORANDUM OF NON-AGGRESSION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE USA.
EASY.
THE WEST KNOWS IT.
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war drones.....
By Lars Lange
The new Lancet drone should be able to eliminate columns of tanks. Western sources largely ignore the “Product 53” drone. It can be a game changer.
Videos of what is probably Russia's most capable drone, the Zala Lancet, are shown on countless Telegram channels every day.
It fights howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and tanks – even Western-made tanks, including the German “Leopard”.
Today, a Telegram channel reports the 400th visually confirmed downing of Ukrainian military equipment by the Russian super drone.
This cannot be independently confirmed, but Western observers and the media have repeatedly emphasized the effectiveness of this weapon system. The oft-cited Western sources, such as the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), hardly ever mentioned this specific weapon system, while it is currently one of the decisive factors in the war.
While it initially looked like Ukraine could win the drone war, Russia has now gained the upper hand in many areas. Apparently, at the beginning of the war, the Russian army first overtook technical developments in the field of drones.
In the meantime, however, it has not only technically caught up with and surpassed Western technology, but has also successful à eliminate largely Western drones and precision artillery munitions.
According to a recent study by the British Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (Rusi), 10 Ukrainian drones are destroyed every month by Russian air defenses and electronic warfare.
The program "Vesti Nedeli"To Rossiya 1 gave the public a first look at the Product 53 drone, which is said to be an upgraded version of the next generation Lancet drone. But in German reports on Russian drones, Iran's Shahed family of drones – often referred to as “cheap drones” – are front and center, while the success of the Lancet is barely reported.
We can objectively say that the Lancet drone is already a great military success. It is a kamikaze drone that is launched by the user without aiming at a specific target and can hover for many miles above enemy territory until finally flown by a drone operator into an enemy military object.
The Lancet design is based on a cylindrical fuselage with two pairs of X-shaped wings attached to the front and rear of the fuselage. Pushing propellers are rear-facing, unlike traditional pulling propellers, which are forward-facing. There are currently three versions:
The Lancet-1 is capable of hitting targets within a range of 40 km. The maximum mass at drone take off is five kilograms with a payload of one kilogram, the flight time is up to 30 minutes, and the speed is 80-110 kilometers per hour.
The second version, the Lancet-3, already has a take-off weight of twelve kilograms. It can carry a payload of three kilograms. The maximum speed of the Lancet-3 is 110 kilometers per hour in level flight and 300 kilometers per hour when attacking a target. The range is up to 50 kilometers. The plane can stay in the air for about an hour.
A third version, the Lancet-5, has an even longer range and a warhead weighing over five kilograms. The manufacturer Zala belongs to the Kalashnikov group.
Factor in the impending defeat of the Ukrainian offensiveThe Lancet drone is responsible for the continued failure of Ukraine's Spring Offensive, among other factors. The drone is now credited with more than 400 kills, according to the Telegram channel Military Summary.
The latest version, now presented in concept form, has a radically different design: it no longer has the cruciform wing profile, but a circular profile with a 45 degree inclination with folding wings.
The new model, called "Product 53", works in a swarm: once a drone has identified a target, it communicates it to the rest of the swarm, allowing a coordinated attack. If multiple targets are identified, all marked targets will be attacked, potentially destroying an entire convoy of vehicles.
The drone operator only specifies the target quadrant and the types of vehicles to fight. The fight then takes place autonomously and fully automatically, the drones coordinating with each other. The weapon system must be smart enough to recognize that, for example, anti-aircraft and radar systems have a higher priority than, for example, armored personnel carriers.
When a drone detects a target, all drones know it, explains Alexander Sakharov, chief designer at Zala Aero Group, in this video from Rossiya 1. Sakharov goes on to explain that the new Lancet should be compatible with the concept of network-centric warfare, where a network combines a swarm of suicide bombers into a single entity.
Unlike the Lancets of the current version, the Produkt 53 is no longer launched with a catapult, but from a small launch container that can launch up to four Kamikaze drones simultaneously. The container also serves as a transport container.
Russian drones are already operating in swarms. There are videos of two Lancets fighting together a Cesar howitzer. Until now, a swarm of several drones was mainly known from small kamikaze drones, called FPV (First Person View) drones, which are often controlled by operators using VR glasses and also fight entire columns of vehicles – but not autonomously and networked, but manually.
What's remarkable about the Product Launch 53 video is that it shows the production of Lancet drones in an old shopping mall. The new production plant was set up in just eight weeks.
Public television video shows hundreds of drones in various stages of production. You can see sparkling clean rooms with state-of-the-art CNC machines, lathes and welding robots. According to the manufacturer, a Lancet drone currently costs around $35.
If Russia indeed manages to organize significant production of these new networked and autonomous “Product 53” drones, it could represent a real game-changer in the course of the war.
Ukraine's losses from previous versions of the Lancet already amount to roughly the artillery and armored vehicle stocks of one or two combat brigades – a huge amount of bloodshed for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
source: Telepolis via Bruno Bertez
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NOT COUNTING THE MINEFIELDS AND OTHER DETERRENCE TO COUNTEROFFENSIVES....
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comedian della guerra.....
Ukrainian Culture Minister Aleksandr Tkachenko has resigned following public outrage over his department’s financial support for a comedy TV series, which critics have branded a waste of taxpayers’ money.
He announced on Friday that he had sent a resignation letter to Prime Minister Denis Shmygal. Tkachenko claimed to have done so before learning that President Vladimir Zelensky wanted him fired. The Ukrainian leader explained his reasons for sacking the minister in a video address on Thursday, alluding to his department’s unreasonable use of public funds.
“Museums, cultural centers, symbols and TV series are all important, but now we have other priorities,” the president said, instructing the government to find outside funding for such projects.
Tkachenko cited “a wave of confusion about the importance of culture in wartime” as the cause of his dismissal. He declared that “culture is a shield for our identity and our borders.”
He was apparently referring to the public outrage this week, which was triggered by news that his ministry had agreed to invest some $900,000 in a comedy show. Details about the production were revealed in a transparency disclosure published online.
The end product would tell the story of a pair of “talented IT guys” who end up in a small Ukrainian village named Ingulets, which is led by “farmer Aleksey Parovoz, nicknamed Batya [‘Pops’ in Ukrainian],”according to the description.
https://www.rt.com/russia/580066-ukraine-culture-minister-fired/
WITH ZELENSKY BEING A COMEDIAN HIMSELF, AND A CORRUPT ONE AT THAT, TKACHENKO WAS THINKING HE WAS IN CLOVER BY BOOSTING THE MORAL OF VOLODYMYR NAPOLEON... NOT THE CASE....
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combattants on the ground....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6NVmhOqmCM
U.S. Veteran Predicts End of Russia-Ukraine Conflict w\@WildSiberianThe video you're about to watch contains war-related footage that is crucial in understanding the military aspect of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Our objective is not to shock, provoke or glorify war, but to provide a factual and unbiased narrative of these events to inform and educate our viewers.
This video is shared for educational purposes and is not intended to shock, sensationalize, or glamorize any military conflict. In this video, we have taken the utmost care to supplement the military footage with ample context and supporting information.
Our aim is to provide a comprehensive view of the events, highlighting the where and when of each scene. It's important to us that you're not just seeing the footage, but also understanding the broader circumstances surrounding it. By watching this video, we hope you will gain a deeper understanding of this conflict.
We believe that knowledge is the key to fostering understanding and promoting peace.
We encourage thoughtful and respectful discussion in the comments section. Please remember to be respectful to others, even when opinions differ.
MEANWHILE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JJ26EqSisw
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