[Roosta]

UAF are 200ing on average about 1500 RAF a day so the math is 30 days tops & those 50,000 orcs will be in the ground & swearing in is 3 months away, so Ukraine will be in a very very good position.

Fuck Poo Tin & Rocketman & their Bitches !

[Rikbikboo]

'This is totally bonkers': Experts respond to report Ukraine could develop rudimentary nuclear bomb
A story published overnight has cited a report that suggests Ukraine could develop a rudimentary nuclear bomb within months if Donald Trump withdraws US military assistance.

According to the report, the country could use stored plutonium to build a basic device with a similar technology to the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.

"Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later," said the document, written by Ukraine's National Institute for Strategic Studies, a government research centre that acts as an advisory body to the presidential office and the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.

However, the claims have prompted derision among nuclear experts, who suggest the plan outlined in the report is effectively unworkable.

"This is totally bonkers," said Pavel Podvig, an expert on Russian nuclear forces and international arms control.

"Apparently, the argument is that Ukraine has seven tonnes of plutonium that it can use to build 'hundreds of weapons'.

"All this plutonium, however, is in spent fuel. To get it out, one need a reprocessing facility, which Ukraine doesn't have."

A 'Fat Man' nuclear bomb of the type tested at Trinity Site, New Mexico, and dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945
A 'Fat Man' nuclear bomb of the type tested at Trinity Site, New Mexico, and dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945
AP

He also pointed to a number of technical factors preventing such a plan, along with a raft of international rules and safeguards that render it unrealistic.

His view was echoed by Dr Jeffrey Lewis, a professor in arms control and member of the US State Department's International Security Advisory Board.

Responding to the report that Ukraine could develop the rudimentary bomb, he said: "It probably can't. At least not anytime soon."

To do so, he said, Ukraine "would have to build a separation plant, which would take years and cost hundreds of billions".

"While it isn't technically impossible for Ukraine to harvest the plutonium from its spent fuel, it wouldn't be something Ukraine could do quickly or cheaply," he said.

"Building a reprocessing facility would probably take years - years in which it would be exposed to Russian attack."

[Rikbikboo]

Russia is currently "in the ascendancy" and Ukraine's army is "in quite a lot of trouble", says our chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, who is in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow's forces are taking ground in the south east and massing a group of what is believed to be as many as 50,000 soldiers trying to regain Russian territory held by Ukrainians since the summer, he says.

"Russia is definitely in the ascendancy," says Ramsay.

"I would say at the moment the Ukrainian army is in quite a lot of trouble. Morale is always quite good with the soldiers because they know they have to fight, and they're determined to do so.

"But of course, like everyone here, they're looking at what happened in the United States and the results of this election and what is going to happen next... that really is the key to everything that happens in the future."

Without American support, the Ukrainian resistance against Russia "just simply can't continue", Ramsay says.

While the majority of Ukrainians don't want land ceded to Russia, there's "a large number of people in the country who believe that maybe it's inevitable", he says

[Guns N' Coffee]

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/11/15/7484647/

New Ukrainian brigade of 4,500 soldiers completes training in France

The French military task force Champagne is completing its mission to train a new brigade named after Anna of Kyiv and consisting of several thousand Ukrainian soldiers [Anna of Kyiv was a princess of Kyivan Rus who became Queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I – ed.].

Source: AP with reference to French officers who participated in the training, reported by European Pravda

Details: AP noted that once deployed, the French-trained and equipped brigade could become a formidable force on the battlefield.

The brigade will consist of 4,500 soldiers formed from infantry battalions, as well as engineers, artillery units and other specialists, as previously stated by the French authorities.

More than 2,000 soldiers are undergoing the last steps of training before going back to Ukraine.

The French servicemen said during the conversation with the AP journalists that most of the Ukrainian soldiers were recently drafted and had only a few weeks of basic training before arriving in France in September.

French authorities stressed that "the Ukrainian military were also training other troops for the brigade back in Ukraine".

The French military sent about 1,500 of its soldiers to the Champagne task force, which is training Ukrainians on how to fight effectively together and how to use and maintain French-provided weapons.

The French military said that the brigade's arsenal will include 18 AMX 10 light tanks, 18 Caesar self-propelled artillery pieces, 128 armoured personnel carriers, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as other weapons and equipment.

Nonetheless, the French military did not allow journalists to interview the Ukrainian soldiers.

French officers who took part in the training said the troops were now better prepared for the fighting that is likely to take place in the coming months.

Quote from Colonel Paul (no surname for security reasons): "Now they are able to fight, they are able to manoeuvre. They are able to use the different specialists and to use the different equipment they will have on the battlefield."

[Rikbikboo]

Zelenskyy reports 'massive combined strike'
The latest Russian attack on Ukraine was a "massive combined strike" on "all regions", Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
The Ukrainian president added that Russian "terrorists" had used "about 120 missiles and 90 drones".
The missiles - cruise, ballistic and aeroballistic - included "zirkons, Iskanders, and daggers", he said.
Drones included Iranian-designed Shaheds.
Ukrainian air defences destroyed more than "140 air targets", Mr Zelenskyy said.
He commented on Telegram: "The enemy's target was our energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine.
"Unfortunately, there is damage to objects from hits and falling debris.
"In Mykolaiv, as a result of a drone attack, two people were killed and six others were injured, including two children.
"My condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased.
"As of now, areas are without power, [and] all the necessary forces are involved in the elimination of consequences and in restoration."
The president said Ukraine's air defences included anti-aircraft missile troops, "pilots of F-16s", and "mobile fire groups".


He started much sooner than I thought.

[Rikbikboo]

Russia launches one of its 'largest air attacks', Ukrainian foreign minister says
Russia has launched one of its "largest air attacks" on Ukraine overnight, Kyiv's foreign minister has said.
Andrii Sybiha said "peaceful cities, sleeping civilians" and "critical infrastructure" were targeted.
German Galushchenko, Ukraine's energy minister, said power infrastructure had been hit, leading to preventative outages.
"Another massive attack on the power system is taking place," he said on Telegram.
Sybiha described the apparent bombardment as Vladimir Putin's response to those who had "called and visited him recently", in an apparent reference to a phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Russian president.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the call, saying it opened a "Pandora's box".

[Faust]

Originally Posted by Rikbikboo ↗

Russia launches one of its 'largest air attacks', Ukrainian foreign minister says
Russia has launched one of its "largest air attacks" on Ukraine overnight, Kyiv's foreign minister has said.
Andrii Sybiha said "peaceful cities, sleeping civilians" and "critical infrastructure" were targeted.
German Galushchenko, Ukraine's energy minister, said power infrastructure had been hit, leading to preventative outages.
"Another massive attack on the power system is taking place," he said on Telegram.
Sybiha described the apparent bombardment as Vladimir Putin's response to those who had "called and visited him recently", in an apparent reference to a phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Russian president.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the call, saying it opened a "Pandora's box".

This is the flight path

[kellyhound]

Three dozen airlines in russia could go bankrupt in 2025 due to the indirect impacts of Western sanctions.

russian media Izvestia said the affected airlines comprise three dozen small and medium-sized airlines, which make up 26% of russia’s passenger flights.

Izvestia, citing CEO of russia’s NordStar Airlines Leonid Mokhov, said the issues arose from leased foreign aircraft, where Western sanctions imposed on russia in April 2022 led to legislative changes that stipulated the debts were to be paid in russian rubles, a term unaccepted by foreign lessors. The debts remained unpaid to foreign lessors as a result.

While the airlines have used the unpaid debts to cover rising expenses, russia is now set to write off the debts in 2025, which would turn them into taxable profits with a tax rate of 25%, an amount the airlines are unlikely to cover and could lead to bankruptcy.

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by Faust ↗

This is the flight path

For those UAV's, Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea, the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airbase and the Khalino Airbase in Kursk. Always handy to know for Defence and attack tactics.

[Faust]

All long range weapon supplying nato countries have (finally) given permission for their weapons to be used for strikes deep inside Russian territory.

The F16s might see some more use after all

Also looks like it is not quite yet the end