[Roosta]

Originally Posted by WonderMomma ↗

"Kadyrov met with Putin to tell him how great Chechnya republic is doing and how much it supports the "special military operation"

Note two things:
- how tightly Putin grips the table (and his facial expression)
- the font size on Kadyrov's notes. "

Interesting Indeed.
At first glance poo tin looks weak broken & scared.
He was once a strong, confidant, robust looking individual, but he's now slumped looking, almost withdrawn & with a very low hanging head & very white I might add, even sickly, which leads me to believe that he's not getting much sleep which in turn shows us that there's indeed, trouble in paradise.

[ljubodrag]

Highlights of Russian Military Operation in Ukraine on March 13.

[WonderMomma]

"Danger in the territories of hostilities and de-occupied territories

All territories where the foot of the occupier has stepped and hostilities are taking place must be considered dangerous. Today, many "surprises" are hidden in our fields, forests, approaches to rivers. Sometimes you can drive 10-20 times along the same route and disaster will happen 21 times.

Support Battalion and Civil-Military Cooperation Group ✖️ 1 separate special purpose brigade named after Ivan Bohuna is cleaning our land step by step in order to save people's lives."

[WonderMomma]

"Low level Ukrainian Mi-8 operations in Donetsk Oblast; as filmed by @AFP

Notably, Petro, one of the Mi-8 pilots interviewed, already has more than 50 combat missions flown.

Additionally, per the report, Mi-8 lobbed rocket attacks are made from a distance of about 6,200 meters, and are accurate to about 100-200 meters."

[WonderMomma]

I wonder what happened to the 10 million American applicants?


"About half of the prisoners Wagner has already sent to Ukraine are likely dead or injured. These losses can hardly be compensated - British intelligence

In recent weeks, Wagner PMC owner Yevgeny Prigozhin has lost access to recruitment in Russian prisons due to his ongoing disputes with the leadership of the Russian Defense Ministry.

In March, Prigozhin set up community outreach teams at sports centers in at least 40 locations across Russia. Also, recruiters of "Wagnerites" began to look for mercenaries among students of Russian universities. But this is unlikely to help Wagner regain its strength and maintain the intensity of operations in Ukraine."

[ljubodrag]

A Russian fighter jet forced down a US drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday. "Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," per the Air Force.

- Natasha Bertrand, CNN national security reporter.

Fnck, yeah. It's about goddamn time.

[WhiskeyOutpost]

Originally Posted by ljubodrag ↗

A Russian fighter jet forced down a US drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday. "Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," per the Air Force.

- Natasha Bertrand, CNN national security reporter.

Fnck, yeah. It's about goddamn time.

^Example of how pro Russians are distracted by small packets of "anti-NATO" success, so as not to look at the other stuff which is shameful.

[WonderMomma]

"Putin arrived in Ulan-Ude: It is reported that there are new markings on the roads, and all the homeless people have disappeared from the streets. Employees of the plant he is about to visit are standing in queues because of the thorough inspections."

[WonderMomma]

Ukraine trolling Belarus... again.



"Ukrainian border guards put up a Belarusian flag next to the Ukrainian one. But there is a nuance here.

Ukrainian border guards posted the historical Belarusian white-red-white flag near the border, not the one that is now official in Belarus.

By the way, Lukashenka banned the white-red-white flag."

#govtroll

[WonderMomma]

Originally Posted by ljubodrag ↗

A Russian fighter jet forced down a US drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday. "Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," per the Air Force.

- Natasha Bertrand, CNN national security reporter.

More about this:

BBC Article:

US drone crash: A moment fraught with danger
22:00 UTC 14 March 2023

The encounter between Russian jets and a US drone, which resulted in the drone crashing into the Black Sea, appears to be the most significant publicly acknowledged US-Russia confrontation since Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.

As such, it raises a lot of questions and represents a moment fraught with danger.

The United States' National Security Council's (NSC) John Kirby says there have been other intercepts "even in recent weeks", but that this one was different.

Could it have been an accident?

"Based on the actions of the Russian pilots, it's clear that it was unsafe, unprofessional," was the verdict of the Pentagon's Press Secretary, Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder.

"I think the actions speak for themselves."

Does the behaviour of Russia's pilots - allegedly dumping fuel in the path of the drone and then colliding with it - represent a significant escalation?

According to the Pentagon, the whole incident lasted about 30-40 minutes.

During that time, Brig Gen Ryder said there was no direct communication between the Russian and American militaries.

US officials say they believe the Russian Su-27 jets involved "likely" suffered some damage, indicating that a collision was not deliberate.

"I do know that the State Department is raising our concerns about the incident directly with the Russian government," he added.

What, if anything, does the episode mean for the future of American drone operations over the Black Sea, and for the vital surveillance such operations provide to Ukraine?

"If the message is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying or operating in international airspace over the Black Sea," Mr Kirby told broadcaster VOA, "then that message will fail because that is not going to happen".

Not surprisingly, Russia would like to make it as hard as possible for Ukraine's allies to carry out such work.

Washington is being tight lipped about what has happened to the drone.

After the collision, US remote pilots were forced to bring it down in the Black Sea.

Brig Gen Ryder would not say where it landed or whether the Russian navy was trying to recover it.

Audio recordings circulating on social media seem to indicate some kind of Russian recovery operation was under way. But this has not been confirmed.

Clearly, Washington would not be happy if such sensitive surveillance technology fell into Russian hands.

For Joe Biden, determined to support Ukraine for "as long as it takes", this is a delicate moment.

It's not just Western weaponry that's helping Ukraine to withstand Russia's invasion.

It's also a vast quantity of real-time intelligence on every aspect of Russia's military operations, including the movement of vessels in the Black Sea and the launch of missiles aimed at targets across Ukraine.

From defending Ukraine's critical national infrastructure to planning its own offensive operations, Kyiv depends heavily on the steady flow of information.

For obvious reasons, US officials won't be drawn into what, if any, additional precautions its surveillance operations will now involve.

Washington wants to keep them going, but is anxious to avoid using force, and risk getting drawn into a more direct confrontation with Moscow.