re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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They said it was a fuel depot with old diesel but who really knows. Diesel doesn’t go boom like jet fuel or gas would so I question if that was just diesel. Hopefully it wasn’t anything too vital.

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They had several bombers up earlier.

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All 7 aircrafts approaching Saratov.
~1-1.5 hours till arrive to the potential launching zone

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The problem is the age old problem that as you take time to file a fully prepared assault they have more time to prepare defenses for said assault and disrupt your preparations.

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I have no sources or anything like that but I have a feeling there will be more Abrams going than the 31 promised, just like Britain did sending 18 Challengers instead of the 14 promised. We have enough of the older M1A1s that we could send without degrading our own capabilities. I think the Bradleys, Marders and other IFVs are going to play a more vital role in the offensive than the actual tanks will.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has won the trust of Western governments by refusing to use the weapons they provide for attacks inside Russia and prioritizing the targeting of Russian forces inside Ukraine’s borders.

But behind closed doors, Ukraine’s leader has proposed going in a more audacious direction — occupying Russian villages to gain leverage over Moscow, bombing a pipeline that transfers Russian oil to Hungary, a NATO member, and privately pining for long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia’s borders, according to classified U.S. intelligence documents detailing his internal communications with top aides and military leaders.

The documents, which have not been previously disclosed, are part of a broader leak of U.S. secrets circulated on the Discord messaging platform and obtained by The Washington Post. They reveal a leader with aggressive instincts that sharply contrast with his public-facing image as the calm and stoic statesman weathering Russia’s brutal onslaught. The insights were gleaned through intercepted digital communications, providing a rare look at Zelensky’s deliberations amid Russian missile barrages, infrastructure attacks and war crimes.

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In a meeting in late January, Zelensky suggested Ukraine “conduct strikes in Russia” while moving Ukrainian ground troops into enemy territory to “occupy unspecified Russian border cities,” according to one document labeled “top secret.” The goal would be “to give Kyiv leverage in talks with Moscow,” the document said.

In a separate meeting in late February with Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander, Zelensky “expressed concern” that “Ukraine does not have long-range missiles capable of reaching Russian troop deployments in Russia nor anything with which to attack them.” Zelensky then “suggested that Ukraine attack unspecified deployment locations in Rostov,” a region in western Russia, using drones instead, according to another classified document.

In a meeting in mid-February with Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Svrydenko, Zelensky suggested Ukraine “blow up” the Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline that provides oil to Hungary. “Zelenskyy highlighted that … Ukraine should just blow up the pipeline and destroy likely Hungarian [Prime Minister] Viktor Orban’s industry, which is based heavily on Russian oil,” the document says.

In detailing the conversation, intelligence officials concede that Zelensky was “expressing rage toward Hungary and therefore could be making hyperbolic, meaningless threats,” a qualification that does not accompany the other accounts of Zelensky suggesting bold military action. Though Hungary is nominally part of the Western alliance, Orban is widely considered Europe’s most Kremlin-friendly leader.

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The Biden administration says Zelensky’s intercepted comments are not the cause for withholding ATACMS.

“Ukraine has repeatedly committed to employ U.S.-provided weapons responsibly and strategically when needed to counter Russian aggression, and we are confident that will continue to be the case,” said a U.S. defense official who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.

Since last year, Zelensky has promised that Ukraine would never use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia, a pledge the White House says he has fulfilled.

“President Zelensky has kept the promises he has made to President Biden, and we do not believe that that will change,” said a senior administration official.

One reason for not providing the long-range missiles is the “relatively few ATACMS” the United States has for its own defense needs, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Defense One in March.

Zelensky, however, said he believes the United States isn’t sending the weapons because it doesn’t trust Kyiv.

“I think they are afraid that we might use them on the territory of Russia,” Zelensky told The Post. “But I would always tell our partners … ‘We have a priority target for which we are spending the ammunition packages we receive, and we spend it on the deoccupation of purely Ukrainian territories,’” he said.

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Drone footage posted on May 13 reportedly shows Ukrainian servicemen without service weapons nonchalantly walking around Dachi on the Kherson Dnipro Delta.

The Ukrainian troops' relaxed behavior suggests that they are likely not in contact with Russian forces forces or at significant risk of contact with Russian forces.

The behavior indicates the Ukrainians here are not on a reconnaissance or raid mission.

The Russian milblogger who posted this footage explicitly complains about various Russian actors who who have denied that the Ukrainians have established some lasting presence near the left bank.

This footage supports @TheStudyofWar's assessment (based off of imagery and many Russian military bloggers' reports) that Ukrainian forces have established an enduring presence in Dachi close to the left bank of Kherson.

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According to information, the value of the ammunition destroyed in the Khmelnytsky ammunition depot is about 500 million dollars.

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