[Roosta]

Big Blunder by Russia: Sinks Its Own Vessel During Baltic Naval Exercises.

Russia faced a grave mishap during its Baltic Navy drills, leading to the accidental sinking of one of its own ships by a missile strike. The unfortunate event resulted in the loss of three crew members' lives and injuries to four others, as reported by local media sources.

The incident occurred on March 19, during an exercise involving the Baltic Fleet. A misfired missile tragically struck the trawler Captain Lobanov, as reported by the independent television channel TV Rain (Dozhd), which cited information from a relative of one of the crew members. The attack not only claimed lives but also obliterated the captain's cabin, bringing to light the severity of the blunder.

The former Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs in Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, has shared a video on the social media platform X, showing the boat that was hit by the missile.

Initial reports from authorities suggested that the incident was caused by a "fire" on the ship, mentioning only a single casualty. However, details shared with TV Rain revealed a different story, indicating that the truth about the missile strike and the actual number of casualties was known among the survivors and rescuers. Yet, the official narrative was shaped around the occurrence of a "fire."

Survivors of the incident were transported to a hospital in Pionersk, with one individual reported to be in serious condition.

Following the event, it was claimed that officers from Russia's Federal Security Service conducted interrogations with the crew members, explicitly instructing them to remain silent about the circumstances of the incident.

[kellyhound]

Air Defence claims it shot down 43 of 57 objects fired by Russia overnight.

18 of 29 cruise missiles and 25 of 28 attack drones were neutralised.

[kellyhound]

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic said that the initiative of 800,000 shells for Ukraine promised by his country may increase to 1.5 million

"We can do much more than the originally announced number (of 800,000)." - said Yan Lipavskyi in an interview with Bloomberg, naming 1.5 million shells as a potential volume.

According to him, this already helps Ukraine fight better.

"They know that they will have fresh ammunition, and this has changed their attitude towards the use of existing stocks," the foreign minister said.

At the same time, he refused to say how long it would take for supplies to the front line.
==========================================
France will supply Ukraine with 78 Caesar self-propelled guns , - country's Minister of Armed Forces Lecornu

Also, according to him, in 2024 France will be able to produce 100,000 155-mm shells, of which 80,000 will be transferred to Ukraine, the rest for the needs of the French army.

[kellyhound]

Zelensky fired Danilov, a decree on the president's website said.

The head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Lytvynenko, was appointed in his place.

Danilov was the thirteenth secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine and held this position since October 3, 2019. Lytvynenko headed the Foreign Intelligence Service from July 23, 2021.

Before that, from April 4, 2014 to August 13, 2019, he was the deputy secretary of the National Security Council.

[Roosta]

A changing of the guard always brings with it new determination.

[Roosta]

Putin says any F-16 jets donated to Ukraine will be shot down but says it is 'complete nonsense' that Russia will attack any NATO nation and mocks 'scared' Czech Republic.

Story by David Averre • 17h •

'We will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy tanks,' Putin said of Western F-16s

Russia will shoot down any F-16 fighter jets that Western countries supply to Ukraine, Vladimir Putin declared today, before mocking the Czech Republic for being 'scared' of a Russian invasion he says will never come.

'If they supply F-16s, and they are talking about this and are apparently training pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,' Putin told Russian air force pilots during a tour of a training facility in Torzhok, in Russia's Tver region.

'We will destroy the aircraft just as we destroy today tanks, armoured vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers.'

The Russian President also declared NATO had expanded eastwards towards Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union but reiterated that Moscow had no plans to attack a NATO state.
'We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,' Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday.

'The idea that we will attack some other country - Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared - is complete nonsense. It's just drivel.'

But Putin quickly contradicted himself, adding that any F-16 flying in Ukraine would be 'legitimate targets', even if they are based in NATO countries.

'Of course, if they will be used from airfields in third countries, they become for us legitimate targets, wherever they might be located.'

Putin's remarks followed comments earlier in the day by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the aircraft should arrive in Ukraine in the near future.

Ukraine, now more than two years into a full-fledged war against Russia, has sought F-16s for many months.

Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands are among countries which have pledged to donate F-16s.

Meanwhile, a coalition of NATO countries has promised to help train Ukrainian pilots in their use.

Putin said that the West was simply playing up the fake threat of a Russian invasion of a NATO state to justify ramping up its war capabilities and providing further aid to Ukraine.

The Russian President claimed the West's trumpeting of perceived aggression from Moscow was just 'another way to deceive your population and extract additional costs from people, force them to bear this burden on their shoulders, that's all.'

His visit to the Russian air base in Torzhok coincided with nuclear war games in Siberia, as soldiers from a regiment of Yars strategic missile launchers in the Irkutsk region trained at repelling an attack by subversion groups in a military crisis exercise.

'The Yars regiment has gone on combat patrol routes during a command-staff exercise,' said the Russian defence ministry as it released footage of the war games.

'It will change field positions and disperse missile battalions that will overcome contaminated areas.

'Specific attention is paid to repelling attacks of subversion groups.'

Yars missiles are currently the main element of the ground-based component of the Russian strategic nuclear force.

The Mach 25 missiles have a range of up to 7,500 miles, enabling a strike on the U.S.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered the deepest crisis in East-West relations since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Kremlin, which accuses the Western nations of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington and London have probably never been worse.

As Putin railed against the imminent provision of F-16s to Kyiv, Britain declared it was the largest supplier of drones to Ukraine and is working with Latvia to lead a European coalition to step up production.

The UK has pledged to spend £325million on building the UAVs, as well as research and development of new technologies, and will send 10,000 drones to Ukraine this year.

Other allies, such as Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway, have also provided Ukraine with combat drones.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has nurtured its own private military startups to innovate and build up their domestic industry as the war enters its third year.

In total, there are now about 200 drone makers in Ukraine and the Strategic Industries Ministry has said the country could make as many as 2 million drones this year.

[TehOperator]

Originally Posted by Roosta ↗

Dagens.com

Washington Calls for End to Ukrainian Attacks on Russian Energy Sites
Story by Henrik Rothen

The US has called on Kiev to cease its attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, citing concerns that drone strikes on oil facilities could lead to a rise in global fuel prices, as reported by three informed sources to Financial Times.

The US has repeatedly warned Ukraine about the potential consequences of drone attacks on Russian energy facilities. American officials have shared their concerns with the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR), both of which are continually expanding their drone programs to strike Russian targets on land, sea, and air.

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Despite this, attacks on oil refineries, terminals, warehouses, and oil storages have intensified in recent months. This has led to growing frustration in the White House with Ukraine's actions, one FT source noted.
Russia remains one of the world's largest exporters of energy resources, despite Western sanctions. Oil prices have risen about 15% this year to $85 a barrel, leading to higher fuel costs in the US as President Joe Biden begins his re-election campaign.

Washington is also concerned about Russia's potential response to Ukraine's strikes. The US believes Western energy infrastructure, including the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which delivers oil from Kazakhstan, could be at risk. Moscow has halted its operation several times in 2022.

"Nothing scares the incumbent American president more than the rise in fuel prices in an election year," said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy consulting firm and former White House energy advisor.

According to a military intelligence representative in Kiev, since 2022, there have been at least 12 attacks on major Russian oil refineries, nine of which occurred this year. Several terminals, warehouses, and storages were also affected.

Reuters calculations show that strikes on Russia's largest refineries in February and March paralyzed 13% of the total capacity of active primary processing units. Considering only refineries that produce gasoline and diesel fuel, the Russian economy lost about 9% of production, or 77.4 thousand tons per day, based on processed oil.

The accumulated downtime at refineries due to drone strikes reached 3.5 million tons, ten times more than the total for the previous two years. Meanwhile, the number of damaged oil refining units tripled, and by mid-March, the volumes of emergency downtime were 1.4 times higher than planned repairs.

TL/DR
It's a election year and we gotta keep down gas prices & green new deal bullshit so..... Yeah, Ukraine, gonna have some more casualties. Our bad

[houseoftechno]

Originally Posted by TehOperator ↗

TL/DR
It's a election year and we gotta keep down gas prices & green new deal bullshit so..... Yeah, Ukraine, gonna have some more casualties. Our bad

The current US administration = mega negative credibility with both wars. Embarrassing.

[TehOperator]

Originally Posted by houseoftechno ↗

The current US administration = mega negative credibility with both wars. Embarrassing.

Being an American, it's honestly horrific. Like the ONE THING we're good at is war - and we've been fucking that up even.

Throw some more diplomatic pressure on there, I'm sure that'll work this time!

[kellyhound]

The UK Ministry of Defence has released a detailed, high-quality satellite image of the aftermath of the attack on temporarily occupied Sevastopol on March 24.