US warns it will hold China responsible if Russia makes gains in Ukraine, after Beijing renews Moscow support
“We have told China directly, if this continues, it will have an impact on the US-China relationship. We will not sit by and say everything is fine,” Campbell said.US will hold China responsible if Russia makes gains in Ukraine
The United States warned on Tuesday that it will hold China responsible if Moscow makes gains in Ukraine.hongkongfp.com
“We will see this not as just a Russian unique set of activities but a conjoined set of activities backed by China but also North Korea. This is antithetical to our interests,”
Beijing ‘does not accept criticism or pressure’ over ties with Russia, Chinese foreign ministry says
China won't accept 'criticism or pressure' over Russian ties
China said it would not accept criticism of its Russian ties after the US said it would blame Beijing for Moscow's gains in Ukraine.hongkongfp.com
China vowed Wednesday it would not accept “criticism or pressure” over its ties with Russia, after Washington warned that it will hold Beijing responsible if Moscow makes gains in Ukraine.
In response, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning insisted that “China and Russia have the right to engage in normal economic and trade cooperation”.
“This kind of cooperation should not be interfered with or limited, and China also does not accept criticism or pressure,” she added on Wednesday.
China and Russia pledged Tuesday they would strengthen strategic cooperation as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with President Xi Jinping and top diplomat Wang Yi.
Beijing to ‘strengthen strategic cooperation’ with Moscow, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi says
Beijing to 'strengthen strategic cooperation' with Moscow
China's top diplomat said that Beijing would strengthen strategic cooperation with Moscow as he met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.hongkongfp.com
Status-6 (Military & Conflict News)
@Archer83Able
The main target of today's Russian large-scale missile attack was Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Energy infrastructure objects in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Lviv Oblasts of Ukraine came under attack, according to the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, German Galushchenko.
During today's attack, Russia used around 50 missiles (Kh-55/101, Kinzhal, S-300, Iskander-M) + similar number of Shahed 136/131 attack drones. That was reported by Nikolaevsky Vanek, a channel affiliated with the Ukrainian military.
СУСПІЛЬНЕ НОВИНИ
Уночі армія РФ атакувала енергетичну інфраструктуру у Харківській, Запорізькій, Львівській, Київській областях, повідомив міністр енергетики Герман Галущенко. За його даними, енергетики вже працюють над усуненням наслідків.t.me
QuoteНиколаевский Ванёк
кстати хто спав вы в принципе ниче такого не пропустили кроме там 50 ракет разного типа и примерно такого же количества мопедов нормально, прорвёмсяt.me
Status-6 (Military & Con
Throughout history energy infrastructure has always been a valid target. What makes these actions terrorist?More proof Russia is a terrorist state.
What are they going to do stop importing cheap Chinese Goods?Hummmm......
Yep - what the US did on the first night attacks in Iraq!Throughout history energy infrastructure has always been a valid target. What makes these actions terrorist?
True - but the difference is we are the GOOD Guys - anything we do is OK - Such as the food sanctions on Iraq that resulted it the deaths of some 500,000 children - a war crime? - an attack on civilians?Yep - what the US did on the first night attacks in Iraq!
Another excellent example of Quality vs Quantity is taking place in the Red Sea - US ships armed with state of the art - $2 million each - Standard Missile-2 interceptor missiles are being used to intercept $2,000 Houthi drones.US Artillery Capabilities Fall Victim to "Profit Over Purpose," No Solution in Sight
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR3zM2dSwZ8
Run time - 14:55
Apr 11, 2024
Link to the article: https://journal-neo.su/2024/03/26/the...
- The US Army has cancelled a long-range artillery prototype because barrels were wearing out too quickly;
- The US seeks to evaluate existing Western artillery systems to extend the range of American artillery systems;
- This is done supposedly after learning lessons from the ongoing fighting in Ukraine;
- The real problem is the collective West's inability to mass produce weapons and ammunition;
- Longer-range systems may not make them more effective on modern battlefields where counter-battery operations is conducted using long-range drones;
- Russia and China are no longer lagging in terms of military capabilities or the technology associated with them, the determining factor is quantity;
- America's for-profit arms industry prefers small numbers of expensive weapons over large quantities of simple but effective systems, creating these shortcomings in Western artillery systems;
References:
Defenses News - US Army scraps Extended Range Cannon Artillery prototype effort (March 12, 2024): https://www.defensenews.com/land/2024...
Defense News - US Army readies new artillery strategy spurred by war in Ukraine (August 2023): https://www.defensenews.com/land/2023...
CNN - Exclusive: Russia producing three times more artillery shells than US and Europe for Ukraine (March 11, 2024): https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/10/po...
What I've recently discovered is that these ballyhooed sanctions are not so rigid as we of the masses are repeatedly told. A good example of this is the sanction regime against Russian oil and gas. I got curious about this when I read that Russia had been paid something like 600 million Euros so far this year by the French for gas, which is presently being stored in western Ukraine.Looks like the gas station with Nukes is still producing and selling oil.
Russian oil flows are sidestepping sanctions and trading above the G-7 price cap all over the world
Russia's benchmark crude is fetching roughly $75 a barrel, well above the G-7's $60 price cap, Bloomberg reported.Russian oil flows are sidestepping sanctions and trading above the G-7 price cap all over the world
Bloomberg reported that Urals grade crude is selling at around $75 a barrel, exceeding the G7 nations' $60 price cap on Russian oil.markets.businessinsider.com
Urals crude reaching India trades at $88 a barrel, while oil leaving from eastern Russia sells for $84 a barrel.
Spiking oil prices helped Russia energy-tax revenue double last month
The amount of tax that Russia collected on oil and gas rose by 90% on a year-over-year basis in March.markets.businessinsider.com
Multiple Telegram sources have mentioned that the German Police are ''helping the Moldavians'' capture and return the Ukrainian men fleeing the Kiev Democracy. However, the ''Underground'' is continuing to expand & is escalating the run for life.How thousands of Ukrainian men are trying to dodge the conflict | Ukraine War
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXhC8WREVKM
Run time - 6:10
Apr 11, 2024
Thousands of Ukrainian men are trying to flee the country to avoid getting drafted into the war with Russia.
It comes as the country lowers the conscription age from 27 to 25 due to a lack of soldiers fighting on the frontline.
Sky’s John Sparks spoke to a draft-dodger who is preparing to flee Ukraine through the mountains and the smuggler who’s helping men out before they get conscripted.
Almost TOO BIG! Something like this will likely be used for a few specific targets. The "smaller" 250 > 1500kg bombs are all that is needed to attack trench lines with little reinforcement. 12 FAB-250's spaced along a trench line is a lot more effective than one FAB-3000 - BTW - I still have a hard time imagining a 3 Ton Bomb GLIDINGRussian Military Boosts FAB-3000 Production: The Most Destructive Bomb
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9-tR2n-KuA
Run time - 8:08
Apr 11, 2024
Russia's air force has significantly bolstered its capabilities in the Ukraine conflict by employing glide bombs. These specialized munitions, dropped from fighter jets, pack a devastating punch, posing a formidable challenge to counter. These glide bombs have demonstrated their effectiveness since their deployment last year, allowing the Russians to strike from greater distances and evade Ukrainian air defenses and certain fighter planes.
Amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russia has developed and deployed a variety of guided bombs, including the powerful FAB-1500, the most potent bomb in the Soviet-era explosive family. However, Russia has an even more potent option in its bomb arsenal.
The weapon is the FAB-3000, now in production and considered one of the world's most powerful aerial bombs. Weighing three tonnes and carrying a 1,400-kilogram payload. This high-explosive weapon was revealed by Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu during his visit to an aviation bomb production site in the Nizhny Novgorod region on March 21, 2024. The sheer power of this bomb raises the question: just how formidable is it?
This story has been floating around for some time - BBC Source??Hummmm........
Posted for fair use.......
Ukraine war: The Indian men traumatised by fighting for Russia
Two men who were duped by agents into joining the war against Ukraine speak about their experiences.www.bbc.com
Ukraine war: The Indian men traumatised by fighting for Russia
1 day ago
By Ashraf Padanna,Reporter, Trivandrum, Kerala
In October last year, David Moothappan saw a Facebook advertisement offering jobs as security guards in Russia.
The promised monthly salary - 204,000 roubles ($2,201; £1,739) - seemed a huge amount to the school-dropout fisherman from the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Weeks later, Mr Moothappan, 23, found himself on the warfront in the Russian-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
"It's death and destruction everywhere," he says, when asked about his time there.
He and another man from Kerala managed to return home last week. They are among several Indians who were duped by agents into fighting for Russian forces in the country's war with Ukraine over the past few months.
A few have managed to make their way back home but others are still stuck in Russia. Most of them are from poor families and were lured with the promise of jobs, sometimes as "helpers" in the Russian army. At least two Indians have died so far in the war.
India's foreign ministry has said it is "pressing very hard with the Russian authorities" to bring back its citizens who have been tricked into fighting in the war. Last week, foreign minister S Jaishankar called this "a matter of very, very deep concern" for India. The BBC has emailed the Russian embassy in India for comment.
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing.
Mr Moothappan is relieved to be back home in the fishing village of Pozhiyoor in Kerala, but says he can't forget what he saw in the war.
"There were body parts strewn all over the ground," he says. Distraught, he started vomiting and almost fainted.
"Soon, the Russian officer commanding us told me to return to the camp. It took hours for me to recover," he says.
He says he broke his leg around Christmas while fighting in a "remote place" - his family, he says, didn't know about his situation at that time.
- What in the World: Were Indian men tricked into fighting for Russia?
- The Indians ‘duped’ into fighting for Russia in Ukraine
- India busts 'major' network trafficking people to Russia
Mr Moothappan spent two and a half months in different hospitals in Luhansk, Volgograd and Rostov before recovering partially.
In March, a group of Indians helped him reach the country's embassy in Moscow, which then arranged for him to travel back home.
Some 61km away in Anchuthengu, another fishing hamlet in Kerala, Prince Sebastian has a similar story of escape - and trauma - to tell.
Duped by a local agent, he was deployed in a group of 30 fighters in the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian town of Lysychansk. After just three weeks of training, he says he was sent to the frontline with several weapons including an RPG-30 (a handheld, disposable rocket-propelled grenade launcher) and bombs, which prevented him from moving quickly.
Fifteen minutes after he reached the front, he says a bullet fired from close range deflected off the tank he was in and pierced below his left ear. He fell - on to what he realised was a dead Russian soldier.
"I was shocked and I couldn't move. After an hour, as the night fell, another bomb exploded. It badly injured my left leg."
He spent the night in a trench, bleeding. He escaped the next morning and subsequently spent weeks in different hospitals.
He then got a month's leave to rest. During this time, a priest helped him contact the Indian embassy which then issued him a temporary passport and arranged for his return home.
He says two of his friends who went with him, also fishermen, are still missing. Neither he nor their families have heard from them in weeks.
Officials in Kerala say they have so far received complaints from the families of four men - Mr Moothappan, Mr Sebastian and his two friends - about being duped by agents.
Mr Sebastian says he and his friends went to a local agent in their village to check if they could find jobs somewhere in Europe (the man is currently absconding).
The agent suggested Russia, speaking of a "golden opportunity" to work as a security guard for a monthly salary of 200,000 rupees ($2,402; £1,898). They agreed instantly.
The friends paid 700,000 rupees each to him for a Russian visa. On 4 January, they reached Moscow, where an Indian agent identified as Alex, who spoke their language, Malayalam, welcomed them.
They spent the night in a flat, following which a man took them to a military officer in the city of Kostroma, 336km (208 miles) away, where they were made to sign a contract in Russian, a language they couldn't read, Mr Sebastian said.
Three Sri Lankan recruits also joined them there. Then the six men were taken to a military camp in the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine. The officers took their passports and mobile phones.
The training started on 10 January. In the following days, they learnt how to use handheld anti-tank grenades and what to do if they were injured.
After this, they were taken to a secondary base known as the Alabino Polygon. There, the training continued for 10 days, "day and night".
"All kinds of armaments were waiting for us there," Mr Sebastian said. "I started enjoying the weapons like toys."
But the brutal reality of the war hit him on the battlefield.
Now, he is hoping to resume fishing. "I have to repay the money I borrowed from lenders and restart my life," he says.
In Pozhiyoor, Mr Moothappan hopes to do the same.
"I was engaged to a girl in my village when I left. I told her I'll return with money and build a house before our marriage," he said.
Now the couple have decided to wait for two more years as Mr Moothappan tries to rebuild his life.
But he's happy that at least he didn't kill anyone in his time on the battlefield.
"One time, the Ukrainians were some 200m away. We were asked to go on the offensive but I didn't fire a single shot at them," he said. "I can't kill anybody."
Yes - the new Narrative - Trump & Republicans - Putin PuppetsView: https://youtu.be/V9jf-T2eVUw?si=vMUJdRspagmv0ES8
29:28 minutes
Impassioned analysis of America's failure to honor it's promises to Ukraine.
Trump favoring Russia is directly responsible for many Ukrainian deaths and country wide destruction. If Russia succeeds, wider war is inevitable.
I was introduced to the head of Russia's Weatherford subsidiary years ago. He told me that there were 84,000 Weatherford employees in their Russian subdivision at the time. I don't know if they're still operating in Russia but suspect they are. Weatherford is a multiple-product line and oilfield service company like Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, etc. They're like remoras, feeding off the big sharks' leftovers like the national companies such as Rosneft, Gazprom, Lukoil and so on.Looks like both sides can play the seizure game, eh?
Guess there are still quite a lot of western assets located in Russia.
Almost TOO BIG! Something like this will likely be used for a few specific targets. The "smaller" 250 > 1500kg bombs are all that is needed to attack trench lines with little reinforcement. 12 FAB-250's spaced along a trench line is a lot more effective than one FAB-3000 - BTW - I still have a hard time imagining a 3 Ton Bomb GLIDING
It’s difficult to truly estimate how catastrophic the situation is becoming because every ‘expert’s’ opinion seems to differ, and many were disappointed with last year’s energy grid strikes. However, one thing that can be objectively said is Russia has demonstrably been hitting engine rooms, as we’ve seen in actual video from the Dnipro HES hydroelectric station. In the Centernergo note above, they also admit a ‘large fire’ in the ‘turbine workshop’.Missile attack on the territory of Ukraine on April 11: details
Tu-95MS missile carriers and Geran-2 loitering ammunition hit many targets, including both military and infrastructure/energy facilities.
What objects were hit?
Tripolye (Kyiv region). Trypilska Thermal Power Plant.
Kharkov, CHPP-3.
Kharkov, plant named after. Malysheva, workshop No. 510 and building No. 400.
Chuguev (Kharkov region). Central warehouse of engineering ammunition of military unit A-2467.
Kharkov, Turboatom plant. Foundry shop and KEMZ building.
Stry (Lviv region), gas collection point No. 2.
Susk (Rivne region). 1448th Central Artillery Weapons Base.
Chervonograd (Lviv region). 72nd separate mechanization battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Chervonograd (Lviv region), substation “Chervonograd-2” 110/35/6 kV.
Odessa, substation 330/110/10 kV “Usatovo”.
It is noteworthy that during attacks on electricity generation facilities, eyewitnesses recorded multiple arrivals, as in the case of the recent finishing off of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station. Indirectly, this indicates that the Russian Aerospace Forces have been tasked with completely destroying or critically damaging ALL large non-nuclear generation facilities on the territory of Ukraine.
Taking into account the fact that the attacks on Ukraine’s energy system are systemic in nature (and some facilities, such as CHPP-3 and substations in Odessa, have been hit not for the first time), the cumulative effect of a sharp shortage of electricity generation may appear in the near future.
If only Netanyahu had 0.01% the compassion.Russia did not strike Ukrainian energy sector in winter for humanitarian reasons - Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with Lukashenko, said that Russia was forced to respond to the Ukrainian series of attacks on the energy sector. Our country did not carry out such attacks in winter for humanitarian reasons, so as not to leave hospitals and schools without electricity.
"Very soon, the only topic for any international meetings on Ukraine will be the unconditional surrender of the Kiev regime, I advise all of you to prepare for this" - Nebenzya