re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

ISW Update

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Key Takeaways:

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) proposed on May 21 that the Russian government reassess Russia’s maritime borders in the Baltic Sea so that these borders “correspond to the modern geographical situation.”

Kremlin and Russian MoD officials denied on May 22 that Russia is planning to change the Russian maritime border, but invertedly implied that the Russian government is considering undertaking some “security” measures in the Baltic Sea.

Western officials noted that Russia may be reassessing the basis for maritime borders in order to revise maritime zones in the Baltic Sea.

The Kremlin appears to be developing a system to legalize the status of Russia's so-called “compatriots abroad,” likely as part of its efforts to set information conditions to justify further aggression and hybrid operations abroad as “protecting” Russia's compatriots.

United Kingdom (UK) Defense Minister Grant Shapps stated on May 22 that US and UK intelligence have evidence that the People's Republic of China (PRC) “is now or will be” providing lethal military assistance to Russia, a statement that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan questioned.

Western officials warned that Russian intelligence services intend to increase sabotage activities and other hybrid operations against NATO member countries.

US Space Command reported on May 21 that Russia recently launched an anti-satellite weapon, the most recent report that Russia intends to field disruptive anti-satellite capabilities.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan indirectly accused Russia and directly accused Belarus of helping Azerbaijan to prepare for the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, against the backdrop of deteriorating Armenian-Russian relations.

Ukrainian forces recently recaptured territory near Vovchansk and Chasiv Yar, and Russian forces recently marginally advanced near Vovchansk, Avdiivka, Donetsk City, and Velyka Novosilka.

Russian courts reportedly began forcibly hospitalizing Russians charged with political crimes such as spreading “fake” information about the Russian military, in psychiatric hospitals.

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Is this kind of like the 146 military bases the US has across the world,

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Are you another Paultard who counts USMC embassy guards as military bases?

another scaredy cat who is suckered by Putin's bluffs.

Interesting that Andrey Kozyrev, Foreign Minister for Russia from 1992-1996 says that Putin is lying about NATO expansion promises.

The former head of Blackwater has been making media rounds talking about US military capabilities and the Ukraine war.

-Says Russia has improved in a lot of areas since the start of the war, one example was that he mentioned improving their time to locate artillery targets to return fire. It was taking them 1 hour-1.5 hours, now down to 2-3 minutes. Thats another reason the 155s are so important to Ukraine since they can outrange Russian artillery if positioned correctly.

-Ukraine and Russia have highly adapted to the use of drones, and the US is way behind.

-We already knew this, but Russian jammer tech is really good and effective against most US weaponry. Doesn't do anything to drones though.

-Same people who led us in Afrgahnistan are leading us now, basically we are living in the past warfare wise.

I thought some of the points I've seen him make on the Ukraine conflict were interesting, but he still likely has financial incentive to say the US military is inept so I take those with more of a grain of salt.

OSINTtechnical
@Osinttechnical
Yesterday, Ukrainian forces successfully hit and destroyed a Russian S-400 battery with at least one MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missile in Donetsk Oblast.

1x 96L6E radar destroyed
2x TELs destroyed
1x likely 55K6E command post destroyed
1x TEL heavily damaged

Video & Images

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You are so full of shite.

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Erik Prince said the same thing on Tucker. The Army is not adapting, and for the normal bureaucratic reasons.

For quoting someone else?

frick off, pussy

Rosneft asks Kremlin to compensate for costs of protecting oil refineries from drones

by Rachel Amran and The Kyiv Independent news desk May 23, 2024 6:14 PM

The CEO of Russia's state-controlled oil company, Rosneft, sent a letter to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asking the Kremlin to approve tax breaks to offset the cost of preventing drone attacks on the company's oil refineries, Russian state-controlled media reported on May 23.

In recent months, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry, which is crucial to sustaining Moscow's war efforts, as well as its military hardware.

More than a dozen oil refineries have been reportedly hit. Earlier this week, on May 20, Russian media claimed that a refinery in the Russian town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban was damaged following an overnight drone strike.

In the letter, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly asked the Kremlin to "provide tax benefits to offset the costs of drone attacks on oil refineries in the Russian Federation."

Sechin writes that due to the increase in "terrorist risks," the company has been forced to implement a wide and costly set of measures to physically protect oil facilities from drones.

The CEO said the company suspended operations at the Syzran, Ryazan, Kuibyshev, and Tuapse refineries due to drone strikes. Sechin proposed compensating the company for security costs through deductions from the mineral extraction tax or income tax and increasing the reverse excise tax on oil.

He also noted that Western sanctions have undermined efforts to modernize the refineries, limiting the supply of equipment and increasing the cost of logistics and construction work.

The Kyiv Independent