re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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I wouldn't be shocked to know that they transport fuel via Jerry can.

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They overwhelmingly transport fuel by rail, the same way they transport everything else. Taking out the Kerch rail bridge caused Russia to revert back to using the rail ferries that they used before the bridge was opened in 2018.

This is what makes the south so vulnerable, in ways that the Donbas is not. Taking out the railroad junction at Dzankoi in Crimea stops the supply of fuel to Melitopol and the rest of southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts.

The tank farm hit near Sevastopol had a dock for unloading tankers to tank then loading rack for filling rail cars. So then it has to go via rail to the naval base, or rail to the some tank farm staging area, then either into jerry cans or tank truck. If it is already by rail, ISO Containers could just be loaded onto trucks. Russia is not even close to modernized with logistics

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He warned that there will likely be accidents, oil spills, etc. in the future due to these practices

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Correct. The Pablo exploded almost certainly due to the crew's failure to inert the cargo tanks following discharge. This leaves the discharged tanks full of explosive vapors and oxygen. Add to this the hundreds of sources of static charge on a oil tanker and you get the FAFO Award of the Month.

[If you practice the TLDR method, stop reading here.] Normal practice is to inert the cargo tanks with the exhaust gas from the ship's boilers during discharge. The exhaust gas (called 'stack gas' as it normally goes up the stack) has had most of its oxygen burned in combustion, thus making it ideal for this purpose. It is also free, another major consideration for owners and flag agents. Best / required practice is to begin inerting before the first tanks being discharged are empty and continuing inerting each tank as it is being discharged in a cascading manner.

Static electricity is very very dangerous and very damaging. Check that flying deck section in this video. You can count yourself fortunate to have a procedure that almost completely removes this risk, such as inerting vessel tanks. To ignore or even delay this procedure is unbelievable but it obviously happens. Probably due to the owners or agents hiring the cheapest crew available. Crew quality is another topic but it follows nationalities. Best? Philipino and Norwegian. Worst? Just guess. Hint: They drink so much vodka that they have to be propped up on the floor in a corner of the cargo control room just to be able to talk.

To underline your point about Russian dependence on rail tank cars for fuel movement, there are no road truck loading racks at either this depot or the Black Sea fleet depot further up the harbor.

The guys behind him area definitely not the same crew getting slaughtered on the front lines.

British Defence Intelligence
INTELLIGENCE UPDATE
UPDATE ON UKRAINE 5 May 2023

A recent uptick in Russian rail accidents in areas bordering Ukraine, attributed to sabotage committed by unknown actors, has almost certainly caused short-term localised disruption to Russian military rail movements.

Although its Railway Troop Brigades are capable of restoring lines quickly, these incidents will increase pressure on Russia's internal security forces, who will highly likely remain unable to fully protect Russia's vast and vulnerable rail networks from attack.

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However isn’t the Kinzhal basically just an air-launched ballistic missile?

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Correct, it makes a ballistic arc to gain hypersonic speed, but the issue is that it can change direction unlike a ballistic missile

Dmitri has the full video with translation of Prigozhin's withdrawal announcement. Very interesting.

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So who knows?

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Stidham

Staged clown show.