re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

terrorism update

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I thought Trump was gonna cut off all funding, intelligence, and military assistance to Ukraine? What happened?

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it caused him some real trouble behind the scenes in the GOP... so supposedly a deal was cut: approve the budget bill and all of that was restored for Ukraine.

I wasn't sure about what Trump was gonna do until he met with Johnson last year when aid had been suspended for 5 months. And Johnson came out of that meeting and said: "I now support the biggest Ukraine military aid package that we've ever passed."

And still the Putin supporters were like: "I can't wait until Trump gets in and cuts off every penny and throws Cargo Pants in jail. Along with all his money laundering buddies in DC."

Like: Did they believe their own eyes? Such a head scratcher. I guess when you want to believe something so bad, you just do it regardless of the evidence to the contrary.

Voice of America effectively ceases operations, journalists suspended

Ivanna Kostina, KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — Saturday, 15 March 2025, 20:43

A significant number of employees of the American international broadcaster Voice of America were placed on "administrative" leave on Saturday, which could mean the actual cessation of the broadcaster's work.

Source: European Pravda, citing a number of US publications

Details: It is noted that the extent of the suspensions is not fully understood.

In particular, Reuters confirms that multiple employees of the Voice of America, an international media outlet that operates in more than 40 languages, sent the agency a copy of an email informing them of their immediate placement on leave with full pay and benefits "until otherwise notified".

In the emails sent by the head of human resources at the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent agency of Voice of America, they were instructed not to enter the workplace or access internal systems. The agency does not know for certain the extent of the suspensions and was unable to obtain official comment on the matter.

The same information is confirmed by the New York Times, noting that "many journalists and other employees at Voice of America" have received the message.

Background: The broadcaster had previously laid off staff who did not have a permanent contract; in particular, one of the hosts of the Ukrainian service, Ostap Yarysh, was laid off.

The move came after Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday instructing USAGM, which also funds Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, and six other little-known agencies to reduce their operations to the minimum required by law, saying it was necessary to cut bureaucracy.

Trump clashed with the Voice of America during his first term.

Ukrainska Pravda

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ELOU-AVT-2.5

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This sure looks like a vacuum tower which is fat in the middle a "knob" on top and a smaller diameter bottom about the same diameter as the top "knob" The diagram show hides the bottom with a "skirt" that which the tower is supported by. This is diagram is of neither a cat cracker (FCC) nor a hydrocracker, so not a cracker at all.

Crude oil's first stop is crude unit, the vacuum unit for the bottoms, aka AVT, which is NOT a cracking unit. AVT = Atmospheric VACUUM tower. Tower = fractionation column. The bottoms of a vacuum tower general go to a coker or an asphalt unit. They can go to a hydrocracker or a cat cracker.

I have a refinery for sale which has a vacuum tower (aka column) which has been under nitrogen purge and idle since the refinery was built in 1957. The bottoms from the crude unit were supposed to go to it with the bottoms from the vacuum tower for asphalt. Instead all of the bottoms from the crude unit went to the cat cracker

What is telling is that even after the US stopped sending aid and it became obvious that we weren’t sending troops to Ukraine the Russian apologists never relented. They keep siding with Rusdia.

ISW Update March 25 2025

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Key Takeaways:

Russian milbloggers and Ukrainian officials continue to deny Russian President Vladimir Putin's unsubstantiated claim that Russian forces have encircled a significant number of Ukrainian troops in Kursk Oblast.

Russian forces continued offensive operations in Kursk Oblast but have not completely pushed Ukrainian forces out of the area as of this publication.

Ukrainian officials expressed concern about Russian ground operations in northern Sumy Oblast but doubt Russia's ability to conduct an effective concerted offensive operation against Sumy City.

The Kremlin is likely preparing to intensify a narrative that accuses Ukrainian forces of war crimes in Kursk Oblast in an attempt to discredit the Ukrainian military, erode Western support for Ukraine, and spoil or delay straightforward discussions about the 30-day ceasefire that US President Donald Trump proposed to Putin.

Russian forces conducted drone and missile strikes against Ukraine on the night of March 14 to 15, including conducting their third double-tap strike against Ukraine in the past week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed the official Ukrainian delegation to "engage with Ukraine's international partners" in the negotiation process to end the war on March 15.

Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk and Russian forces recently advanced in Sumy Oblast and near Chasiv Yar and Pokrovsk.

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This is diagram is of neither a cat cracker (FCC) nor a hydrocracker, so not a cracker at all.

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Thanks for the clarification. The diagram of the anti-drone mesh may be using a typical tower unit for illustration.

In compiling information on these attacks we are limited to Russian and Ukrainian journalists that repeat each other. Thus the term "catalytic cracking unit ELOU-AVT-2.5" is parroted throughout these reports. There are also descriptions of the unit effected as being a 'primary processing complex' and 'designed to produce liquefied petroleum gases'. So sources are confusing and these journalists are not refinery process experts.

The numerous videos give evidence of large area destruction, so it's possible that different units were damaged or destroyed, giving rise to the confusing descriptions.

What I would ask is your opinion on what the unit being moved in on heavy trucks is?