re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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Girkin accuses Prigozhin of preparing for a coup in Russia. He says the insults towards the Russian army by Putin's cook are unacceptable, and signal a rift in the elites which Prigozhin will take advantage of with his private army that is being withdrawn from Bakhmut. Girkin adds that if Russia misses the upcoming counter-offensive, the political situation in the country may become unrecongisable by the end of summer.

Watch an excerpt from a longer video posted today.

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Brazilian President rejects Putin's proposal to visit Russia

Lula da Silva said this after a telephone conversation with Putin. "I thanked (Putin. - Ed.) for the invitation to the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg and replied that I cannot come to Russia right now," he wrote.

On May 22 Da Silva had intended to meet at the G7 summit in Hiroshima with the president of Ukraine, but the meeting was disrupted. In this connection, the Brazilian president said that he saw no point in meeting with Zelenskyy, because neither in Moscow nor in Kyiv "obviously want to talk about peace".

Earlier, Lula spoke out against arms supplies to Kyiv, accusing Western countries of "prolonging and encouraging war". These statements were heavily criticized, after which the Brazilian president first condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but continued to insist on the necessity of peaceful negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow

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Ukrainian soldiers began training on Abrams tanks, reports The New York Times

"The training will take 10 to 12 weeks. The first group of trainees includes 400 people. Earlier, the US Department of Defense sent 31 tanks to Germany to train Ukrainian soldiers," the newspaper said.

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In eastern Ukraine, many of the defensive lines built by pro-Russian and Ukrainian forces during fighting between 2014 and 2022 are now inside Russian-occupied territory.

This map update shows where these older fortifications overlap with newer defenses.

A few important notes on this map of fortifications in eastern Ukraine from 2014 to 2022:

First, this data only reflects trenches, barriers, and revetments built before February 2022 that are now within territory occupied by Russian forces. (2/8)

Second, Russian forces have not maintained or expanded most of these positions which dramatically reduces their usefulness when compared to newer defenses. (3/8)

Third, this data is not exhaustive and there may be older fortifications not shown on the map. (4/8)

Nature has overtaken many of the older defensive lines built in eastern Ukraine between 2014 and 2022.

Others are in better condition but still poorly positioned for the current front line. (5/8)

In several instances, new fortifications constructed by Russian forces intersect older defensive lines. (6/8)

In other areas, older fortifications have been expanded and upgraded since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. (7/8)

Check out the full map and several high resolution satellite images of Russia’s fortifications in Ukraine here: LINK

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The AFU is ready for a counteroffensive, it may begin "tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week," - the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Danilov.

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The first group of about 400 Ukrainian soldiers started training in Germany on how to operate and maintain American M1 Abrams tanks, according to the Pentagon.

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Defense Department officials had previously said that about 31 tanks would be sent to Germany to be used in a training program for Ukrainian troops that is expected to take 10 to 12 weeks. Combat-ready tanks could reach the battlefields in Ukraine by the fall, the officials have said.

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Boris Nadezhdin

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Arkhipova said she and several university colleagues were all reported by an email address identified as belonging to Anna Vasilyevna Korobkova — so she emailed the address. The person identifying herself as Korobkova claimed to be the granddaughter of a Soviet-era KGB informant, who spent most of his time writing denunciations. She said she was following in his footsteps.

Korobkova offered no proof of identity when contacted at the email address by The Washington Post, making it impossible to verify her story.

The email writer claimed to be a single woman, aged 37, living in a large Russian city, who started writing mass denunciations of Russian opposition figures last year. She claimed to have sent 1,046 reports to the FSB about opposition figures who made comments on independent media blocked in Russia since the start of the war to May 23 — about two denunciations a day.

“In each interview I look for signs of criminal offenses — voluntary surrender and distribution of false information about the activities of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” she said. “If a POW says, for example, that he surrendered voluntarily, then I write two denunciations on him — to the FSB and to the military prosecutor’s office. She boasted that her denunciation led to the liquidation of Russia’s oldest human rights group, the Moscow Helsinki Group, in January.

“In general, the targets of my denunciations were scientists, teachers, doctors, human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and ordinary people,” the email writer said. “I feel enormous moral satisfaction when a person is persecuted because of my denunciation: dismissed from work, subjected to an administrative fine, etc.”

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And we think that we have a problem with "Karens" in this country.

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Amazing that Girkin can say what he says here.

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An international team of investigators said Wednesday it found "strong indications" that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the supply of heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 with a Russian missile. However, members of the Joint Investigation Team said they had insufficient evidence to prosecute Putin [so far...]

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Russian officials say that a decision to provide rebels with military support over the summer of 2014 was in Putin's hands. A decision to supply arms was even postponed for a week "because there is only one who makes a decision (...), the person who is currently at a summit in France," the investigative team said, citing a phone conversation that was referring to Putin. Prosecutors said that at the time Putin was at a commemoration of D-Day in France.

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M1A2's

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Sure maybe the AMX-10 will be a nice mobile gun for the infantry but against another tank or ATGM it’s screwed.

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