re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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that's like 20kb, so enough to fill up 1000 Camrys ....... once

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Or it could fill up 500 Ladas for their expected life span.

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Russia bought 3,000 metric tons of Belarusian gasoline in the first half of March,

that's like 20kb, so enough to fill up 1000 Camrys ....... once

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1 metric ton = 349.86 gallons

349.86 x 3000 = 1049580 gallons

Camry gas tank size = 15.8 gallons

1049580 / 15.8 = 66429 completely dry Camrys filled up

British Defence Intelligence
INTELLIGENCE UPDATE
UPDATE ON UKRAINE 28 March 2024

Governance initiatives instigated by the Russian authorities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine continue. The Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration is launching a master's degree in 'State and municipal management' which, according to a representative of the university, will provide graduates with skills to work at all levels of government, including in the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The Russian Justice Minister, Konstantin Chuychenko, also announced that Russia has established 58 federal penitentiaries across the temporarily occupied territories in Ukraine.

It is likely the establishment of the master's programme is partly aimed at overcoming the shortage of willing and skilled personnel in Russian government roles in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. It can be linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to create a new administrative elite as indicated in his state of the nation address last month and the issuing of a presidential decree in January 2024 on the establishment of a new personnel reserve.

This is further evidence of Russification measures to align the legal and political frameworks of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. Other similar measures to date include extending the Russian justice system, imposing a Russian education curriculum, issuing Russian passports, and building Russian telecommunications infrastructure.

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Any word on offensive plans for either side?

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Russia is saying they are finally taking the gloves off and Ukraine is saying they are going to be on the defensive so nothing new really

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Background: About 70% of russia's freight locomotives are electric, the rest being diesel. If Ukraine can strike these substations with drones it is likely that it would disrupt logistics and increase demand for diesel.

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Ukrainian should by all means target as much of the Russian electrical grid and rail infrastructure as possible, but they should not stop targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure. Russia military would quickly commandeer all of Russia’s diesel locomotives and move to the area. Therefore Ukraine needs to significantly reduce Russia’s ability to produce diesel.

Partisans: Russia constructing barriers to prevent further strikes on Black Sea fleet

by Chris York and The Kyiv Independent news desk March 27, 2024 1:00 PM

Russian forces in occupied Crimea are constructing barriers at the entrance to Sevastopol Bay to prevent further Ukrainian strikes on the Black Sea fleet, the partisan group Atesh reported on March 27.

In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Black Sea fleet targets in occupied Crimea, successfully targeting several ships and forcing Russian forces to redeploy to safer waters.

While the most recent strikes used missiles to hit three ships and a military communication center, the measures reported by Atesh appear to be an attempt to prevent Ukrainian sea drone attacks.

“After the strikes of the Ukrainian Defense Forces with cruise missiles and naval drones on the Battleships ‘Yamal’ and ‘Azov,’ the command of the Russian Black Sea fleet blocks the passage of boats and puts up new barriers at the sea entrance to the bay,” the group said in a post on Telegram.

Ukraine struck two Russian Ropucha-class landing ships, "Yamal" and "Azov," in occupied Crimea in the late hours of March 23, Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed on March 24.

On March 26, it reported the landing ship Konstantin Olshansky had been hit by a Neptune missile during the same attack.

Ukraine’s domestically-produced Magura V5 naval drones have scored several successes, most recently destroying a Black Sea fleet patrol ship, the Sergey Kotov.

The Strategic Communications Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom) recently reported that as of early February 2024, 33% of the fleet’s warships had been disabled, including 24 ships and one submarine.

Russia has taken a number of steps to address the continuing threat, including replacing the commander of the Russian Navy earlier this month.

Add a zero to those two numbers and they may be in business. I don't think that those figures will get it done

I agree. This is Russia's best chance to make meaningful gains.

Once Ukraine gets those 155mm shells, they'll have a superior artillery platform and near parity in shell usage. That will make it very, very difficult for Russia to move forward in the future.

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You are absolutely correct I forgot my conversion to gallons. It's still an absolutely inconsequential amount of fuel.

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Of course, it is inconsequential and basically a rounding error.

One day of production from a small isomerization unit. It also signifies that they had issues before any of the refineries were hit.

You got it correct big time about their need for mortar rounds, particularly heavy 120 mm mortars. Most Ukrainian combat units use the smaller but lighter 81 mm mortar but they need more heavy mortar tubes and rounds because they are accurate and can do some serious damage to an attacking enemy advancing into fortified positions covered by minefields. We still use the 60 mm mortar a lot in our military as a platoon size weapon but I haven’t seen many of those in Ukraine.