First off, tremendous props to LoBrau, who saw Ukraine coming well in advance and started a record setting thread. May that record stand forever, because nothing would please us more than for there to no longer be anything to talk about.

What has become evident since February of 2022 is that there is a global reshuffling taking place, with three primary players behind most of the conflict in the world today. Discussion of current geopolitics cannot be constrained to one country or conflict.

What this thread is:
News and discussion related to political / military actions by Russia / Iran / China and their proxies, chief among those, North Korea.
News and discussion of the relationships between Russia / Iran / China and their proxies.
News and discussion of responses to Russia / Iran / China and their proxies.
Related Grey Zone / hybrid warfare / “competition short of war.”
Relevant or interesting technical discussion.
Relevant economic / social / historical discussion.
Reliable reporting from Russian / Iranian / Chinese sources.
Russian / Iranian / Chinese perspectives and factual evaluation thereof.
Political topics in the US and / or elsewhere which bear directly on these issues, including the politics of foreign aid.
Current focus is on the Russian war against and in Ukraine, however this could change if the Ukraine war cooled off and Taiwan heated up.  Related topics are always allowed.
Secondary but related topics like Wagner in Africa, uprising in Georgia, or a Third Chechen War.
Reasonable tangents.

What this thread is not:
US and / or foreign political issues which do not directly bear on these topics, including campaigning / advocating for one party or candidate.

General rules:
Discussion is expected to be conducted in good faith and assertions of fact should be substantiated.
In case of a question on whether a subtopic or line of discussion is relevant to this thread, the following members should be considered co-owners with decision making authority- AlmightyTallest, Capta, and SaltwaterHillbilly.

The Axis of Upheaval
How America’s Adversaries Are Uniting to Overturn the Global Order
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Richard Fontaine
May/June 2024
Published on April 23, 2024

In the early morning of January 2, Russian forces launched a massive missile attack on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv that killed at least five civilians, injured more than 100, and damaged infrastructure. The incident was notable not just for the harm it caused but also because it showed that Russia was not alone in its fight. The Russian attack that day was carried out with weapons fitted with technology from China, missiles from North Korea, and drones from Iran. Over the past two years, all three countries have become critical enablers of Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine.

Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Moscow has deployed more than 3,700 Iranian-designed drones. Russia now produces at least 330 on its own each month and is collaborating with Iran on plans to build a new drone factory inside Russia that will boost these numbers. North Korea has sent Russia ballistic missiles and more than 2.5 million rounds of ammunition, just as Ukrainian stockpiles have dwindled. China, for its part, has become Russia’s most important lifeline. Beijing has ramped up its purchase of Russian oil and gas, putting billions of dollars into Moscow’s coffers. Just as significantly, China provides vast amounts of warfighting technology, from semiconductors and electronic devices to radar- and communications-jamming equipment and jet-fighter parts. Customs records show that despite Western trade sanctions, Russia’s imports of computer chips and chip components have been steadily rising toward prewar levels. More than half of these goods come from China.

The support from China, Iran, and North Korea has strengthened Russia’s position on the battlefield, undermined Western attempts to isolate Moscow, and harmed Ukraine. This collaboration, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Cooperation among the four countries was expanding before 2022, but the war has accelerated their deepening economic, military, political, and technological ties. The four powers increasingly identify common interests, match up their rhetoric, and coordinate their military and diplomatic activities. Their convergence is creating a new axis of upheaval—a development that is fundamentally altering the geopolitical landscape.

The group is not an exclusive bloc and certainly not an alliance. It is, instead, a collection of dissatisfied states converging on a shared purpose of overturning the principles, rules, and institutions that underlie the prevailing international system. When these four countries cooperate, their actions have far greater effect than the sum of their individual efforts. Working together, they enhance one another’s military capabilities; dilute the efficacy of U.S. foreign policy tools, including sanctions; and hinder the ability of Washington and its partners to enforce global rules. Their collective aim is to create an alternative to the current order, which they consider to be dominated by the United States.

Too many Western observers have been quick to dismiss the implications of coordination among China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The four countries have their differences, to be sure, and a history of distrust and contemporary fissures may limit how close their relationships will grow. Yet their shared aim of weakening the United States and its leadership role provides a strong adhesive. In places across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, the ambitions of axis members have already proved to be destabilizing. Managing the disruptive effects of their further coordination and preventing the axis from upsetting the global system must now be central objectives of U.S. foreign policy.

THE ANTI-WESTERN CLUB

Collaboration among axis members is not new. China and Russia have been strengthening their partnership since the end of the Cold War—a trend that accelerated rapidly after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. China’s share of Russian external trade doubled from ten to 20 percent between 2013 and 2021, and between 2018 and 2022 Russia supplied a combined total of 83 percent of China’s arms imports. Russian technology has helped the Chinese military enhance its air defense, antiship, and submarine capabilities, making China a more formidable force in a potential naval conflict. Beijing and Moscow have also expressed a shared vision. In early 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed a joint manifesto pledging a “no limits” partnership between their two countries and calling for “international relations of a new type”—in other words, a multipolar system that is no longer dominated by the United States.

Iran has strengthened its ties with other axis members as well. Iran and Russia worked together to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power after the onset of civil war in 2011. Joining Russia’s efforts, which include major energy agreements with Iran to shield Tehran from the effects of U.S. sanctions, China has purchased large quantities of Iranian oil since 2020. North Korea, for its part, has counted China as its primary ally and trade partner for decades, and North Korea and Russia have maintained warm, if not particularly substantive, ties. Iran has purchased North Korean missiles since the 1980s, and more recently, North Korea is thought to have supplied weapons to Iranian proxy groups, including Hezbollah and possibly Hamas. Pyongyang and Tehran have also bonded over a shared aversion to Washington: as a senior North Korean official, Kim Yong Nam, declared during a ten-day trip to Iran in 2017, the two countries “have a common enemy.”

But the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 hastened the convergence among these four countries in ways that transcend their historical ties. Moscow has been among Tehran’s top suppliers of weapons over the past two decades and is now its largest source of foreign investment; Russian exports to Iran rose by 27 percent in the first ten months of 2022. Over the past two years, according to the White House, Russia has been sharing more intelligence with and providing more weapons to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies, and Moscow has defended those proxies in debates at the UN Security Council. Last year, Russia displaced Saudi Arabia as China’s largest source of crude oil and trade between the two countries topped $240 billion, a record high. Moscow has also released millions of dollars in North Korean assets that previously sat frozen in Russian banks in compliance with Security Council sanctions. China, Iran, and Russia have held joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman three years in a row, most recently in March 2024. Russia has also proposed trilateral naval drills with China and North Korea.

The growing cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia is fueled by their shared opposition to the Western-dominated global order, an antagonism rooted in their belief that that system does not accord them the status or freedom of action they deserve. Each country claims a sphere of influence: China’s “core interests,” which extend to Taiwan and the South China Sea; Iran’s “axis of resistance,” the set of proxy groups that give Tehran leverage in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere; North Korea’s claim to the entire Korean Peninsula; and Russia’s “near abroad,” which for the Kremlin includes, at a minimum, the countries that composed its historic empire. All four countries see the United States as the primary obstacle to establishing these spheres of influence, and they want Washington’s presence in their respective regions reduced.

All reject the principle of universal values and interpret the West’s championing of its brand of democracy as an attempt to undermine their legitimacy and foment domestic instability. They insist that individual states have the right to define democracy for themselves. In the end, although they may make temporary accommodations with the United States, they do not believe that the West will accept their rise (or return) to power on the world stage. They oppose external meddling in their internal affairs, the expansion of U.S. alliances, the stationing of American nuclear weapons abroad, and the use of coercive sanctions.

Any positive vision for the future, however, is more elusive. Yet history shows that a positive agenda may not be necessary for a group of discontented powers to cause disruption. The 1940 Tripartite Pact uniting Germany, Italy, and Japan—the original “Axis”—pledged to “establish and maintain a new order of things” in which each country would claim “its own proper place.” They did not succeed, but World War II certainly brought global upheaval. The axis of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia does not need a coherent plan for an alternative international order to upset the existing system. The countries’ shared opposition to the present order’s core tenets and their determination to bring about change form a powerful basis for collaborative action.

Fissures do exist among members of the axis. China and Russia vie for influence in Central Asia, for instance, while Iran and Russia compete for oil markets in China, India, and elsewhere in Asia. The four countries have complicated histories with each other, too. The Soviet Union invaded Iran in 1941; Russia and China settled their long-standing border dispute only in 2004 and had both previously supported efforts to limit Iran’s nuclear programs and to isolate North Korea. Today, China may look askance at North Korea’s deepening relationship with Russia, worrying that an emboldened Kim Jong Un will aggravate tensions in Northeast Asia and draw in a larger U.S. military presence, which China does not want. Yet their differences are insufficient to dissolve the bonds forged by their common resistance to a Western-dominated world.

CATALYST IN THE KREMLIN

Moscow has been the main instigator of this axis. The invasion of Ukraine marked a point of no return in Putin’s long-standing crusade against the West. Putin has grown more committed to destroying not only Ukraine but also the global order. And he has doubled down on relationships with like-minded countries to accomplish his aims. Cut off from Western trade, investment, and technology since the start of the war, Moscow has had little choice but to rely on its partners to sustain its hostilities. The ammunition, drones, microchips, and other forms of aid that axis members have sent have been of great help to Russia. But the more the Kremlin relies on these countries, the more it must give away in return. Beijing, Pyongyang, and Tehran are taking advantage of their leverage over Moscow to expand their military capabilities and economic options.

Even before the Russian invasion, Moscow’s military assistance to Beijing was eroding the United States’ military advantage over China. Russia has provided ever more sophisticated weapons to China, and the two countries’ joint military exercises have grown in scope and frequency. Russian officers who have fought in Syria and in Ukraine’s Donbas region have shared valuable lessons with Chinese personnel, helping the People’s Liberation Army make up for its lack of operational experience—a notable weakness relative to more seasoned U.S. forces. China’s military modernization has reduced the urgency of deepening defense cooperation with Russia, but the two countries are likely to proceed with technology transfers and joint weapons development and production. In February, for instance, Russian officials confirmed that they were working with Chinese counterparts on military applications of artificial intelligence. Moscow retains an edge over Beijing in other key areas, including submarine technology, remote sensing satellites, and aircraft engines. If China can pressure a more dependent Russia to provide additional advanced technologies, the transfer could further undermine the United States’ advantages.

A similar dynamic is playing out in Russia’s relations with Iran and North Korea. Moscow and Tehran have forged what the Biden administration has called an “unprecedented defense partnership” that upgrades Iranian military capabilities. Russia has provided Iran with advanced aircraft, air defense, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and cyber-capabilities that would help Tehran resist a potential U.S. or Israeli military operation. And in return for North Korea’s ammunition and other military support to Russia, Pyongyang is reportedly seeking advanced space, missile, and submarine technology from Moscow. If Russia were to comply with those requests, North Korea would be able to improve the accuracy and survivability of its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and use Russian nuclear propulsion technology to expand the range and capability of its submarines. Already, Russia’s testing of North Korean weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine has supplied Pyongyang with information it can use to refine its missile program, and Russian assistance may have helped North Korea launch a military spy satellite in November after two previous failures last year.

Strong relations among the four axis countries have emboldened leaders in Pyongyang and Tehran. Kim, who now enjoys strong backing from both China and Russia, abandoned North Korea’s decades-old policy of peaceful unification with South Korea and stepped up its threats against Seoul, indulged in nuclear blackmail and missile tests, and expressed a lack of any interest in talks with the United States. And although there does not appear to be a direct connection between their deepening partnership and Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, growing support from Russia likely made Iran more willing to activate its regional proxies in the aftermath. The coordinated diplomacy and pressure from Russia and the West that brought Iran into the 2015 nuclear deal are now a distant memory. Today, Moscow and Beijing are helping Tehran resist Western coercion, making it easier for Iran to enrich uranium and reject Washington’s efforts to negotiate a new nuclear agreement.

AMERICA UNDERMINED

Collaboration among the axis members also reduces the potency of tools that Washington and its partners often use to confront them. In the most glaring example, since the start of the war in Ukraine, China has supplied Russia with semiconductors and other essential technologies that Russia previously imported from the West, undercutting the efficacy of Western export controls. All four countries are also working to reduce their dependence on the U.S. dollar. The share of Russia’s imports invoiced in Chinese renminbi jumped from three percent in 2021 to 20 percent in 2022. And in December 2023, Iran and Russia finalized an agreement to conduct bilateral trade in their local currencies. By moving their economic transactions out of reach of U.S. enforcement measures, axis members undermine the efficacy of Western sanctions, as well as anticorruption and anti-money-laundering efforts.

Taking advantage of their shared borders and littoral zones, China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia can build trade and transportation networks safe from U.S. interdiction. Iran, for example, ships drones and other weapons to Russia across the Caspian Sea, where the United States has little power to stop transfers. If the United States were engaged in conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific, Beijing could seek support from Moscow. Russia might increase its overland exports of oil and gas to its southern neighbor, reducing China’s dependence on maritime energy imports that U.S. forces could block during a conflict. Russia’s defense industrial base, now in overdrive to supply weapons for Russian troops in Ukraine, could later pivot to sustain a Chinese war effort. Such cooperation would increase the odds of China’s prevailing over the American military and help advance Russia’s goal of diminishing the United States’ geopolitical influence.

The axis is also hindering Washington’s ability to rally international coalitions that can stand against its members’ destabilizing actions. China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for example, made it far easier for countries across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East to do the same. And Beijing and Moscow have impeded Western efforts to isolate Iran. Last year, they elevated Iran from observer to member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a predominantly Asian regional body, and then orchestrated an invitation for Iran to join the BRICS—a group that China and Russia view as a counterweight to the West. Iran’s regional meddling and nuclear pursuits have made other countries wary of dealing with its government, but its participation in international forums enhances the regime’s legitimacy and presents it with opportunities to expand trade with fellow member states.

Parallel efforts by axis members in the information domain further weaken international support for U.S. positions. China, Iran, and North Korea either defended or avoided explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and they all parroted the Kremlin in accusing NATO of inciting the war. Their response to Hamas’s attacks on Israel last October followed a similar pattern. Iran used the state media and social media accounts to express support for Hamas, vilify Israel, and denounce the United States for enabling Israel’s military response, while the Russian and, to a lesser extent, Chinese media sharply criticized the United States’ enduring support for Israel. They used the war in Gaza to portray Washington as a destabilizing, domineering force in the world—a narrative that is particularly resonant in parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Even if axis members do not overtly coordinate their messages, they push the same themes, and the repetition makes them appear more credible and persuasive.

AN ALTERNATIVE ORDER?

Global orders magnify the strength of the powerful states that lead them. The United States, for instance, has invested in the liberal international order it helped create because this order reflects American preferences and extends U.S. influence. As long as an order remains sufficiently beneficial to most members, a core group of states will defend it. Dissenting countries, meanwhile, are bound by a collective action problem. If they were to defect en masse, they could succeed in creating an alternative order more to their liking. But without a core cluster of powerful states around which they can coalesce, the advantage remains with the existing order.

For decades, threats to the U.S.-led order were limited to a handful of rogue states with little power to upend it. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the restructuring of interstate relations it prompted have lifted the constraint on collective action. The axis of upheaval represents a new center of gravity, a group that other countries dissatisfied with the existing order can turn to. The axis is ushering in an international system characterized by two orders that are becoming increasingly organized and competitive.

Historically, competing orders have invited conflict, especially at the geographical seams between them. Wars arise from specific conditions, such as a territorial dispute, the need to protect national interests or the interests of an ally, or a threat to the survival of a regime. But the likelihood that any of those conditions will lead to war increases in the presence of dueling orders. Some political science researchers have found that periods in which a single order prevailed—the balance-of-power system maintained by the Concert of Europe for much of the nineteenth century, for example, or the U.S.-dominated post–Cold War era—were less prone to conflicts than those characterized by more than one order, such as the multipolar period between the two world wars and the bipolar system of the Cold War.

The world has gotten a preview of the instability this new era of competing orders will bring, with potential aggressors empowered by the axis’s normalization of alternative rules and less afraid of being isolated if they act out. Already, Hamas’s attack on Israel threatens to engulf the wider Middle East in war. Last October, Azerbaijan forcibly took control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region inhabited by ethnic Armenians. Tensions flared between Serbia and Kosovo in 2023, too, and Venezuela threatened to seize territory in neighboring Guyana in December. Although internal conditions precipitated the coups in Myanmar and across Africa’s Sahel region since 2020, the rising incidence of such revolts is connected to the new international arrangement. For many years, it seemed that coups were becoming less common, in large part because plotters faced significant costs for violating norms. Now, however, the calculations have changed. Overthrowing a government may still shatter relations with the West, but the new regimes can find support in Beijing and Moscow.

Further development of the axis would bring even greater tumult. So far, most collaboration among China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia has been bilateral. Trilateral and quadrilateral action could expand their capacity for disruption. Countries such as Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Nicaragua, and Venezuela—all of which chafe against the U.S.-led, Western-dominated system—could also begin working more closely with the axis. If the group grows in size and tightens its coordination, the United States and its allies will have a more difficult time defending the recognized order.

TAKING ON THE REVISIONISTS

For now, U.S. national security strategy ranks China as a higher priority than Iran, North Korea, or even Russia. That assessment is strategically sound when considering the threat that individual countries pose to the United States, but it does not fully account for the cooperation among them. U.S. policy will need to address the destabilizing effects of revisionist countries’ acting in concert, and it should try to disrupt their coordinated efforts to subvert important international rules and institutions. Washington, furthermore, should undercut the axis’s appeal by sharpening the attractions of the existing order.

If the United States is to counter an increasingly coordinated axis, it cannot treat each threat as an isolated phenomenon. Washington should not ignore Russian aggression in Europe, for example, in order to focus on rising Chinese power in Asia. It is already clear that Russia’s success in Ukraine benefits a revisionist China by showing that it is possible, if costly, to thwart a united Western effort. Even as Washington rightly sees China as its top priority, addressing the challenge from Beijing will require competing with other members of the axis in other parts of the world. To be effective, the United States will need to devote additional resources to national security, engage in more vigorous diplomacy, develop new and stronger partnerships, and take a more activist role in the world than it has of late.

Driving wedges between members of the axis, on the other hand, will not work. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some strategists suggested that the United States align itself with Russia to balance China. After the war began, a few held out hope that the United States could join China in an anti-Russian coalition. But unlike President Richard Nixon’s opening to China in the 1970s, which took advantage of a Sino-Soviet split to draw Beijing further away from Moscow, there is no equivalent ideological or geopolitical rivalry for Washington to exploit today. The price of trying would likely involve U.S. recognition of a Russian or Chinese sphere of influence in Europe and Asia—regions central to U.S. interests and ones that Washington should not allow a hostile foreign power to dominate. Breaking Iran or North Korea off from the rest of the axis would be even more difficult, given their governments’ revisionist, even revolutionary aims. Ultimately, the axis is a problem the United States must manage, not one it can solve with grand strategic gestures.

Neither the West nor the axis will become wholly distinct political, military, and economic blocs. Each coalition will compete for influence all over the world, trying to draw vital countries closer to its side. Six “global swing states” will be particularly important: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey are all middle powers with enough collective geopolitical weight for their policy preferences to sway the future direction of the international order. These six countries—and others, too—can be expected to pursue economic, diplomatic, military, and technological ties with members of both orders. U.S. policymakers should make it a priority to deny advantages to the axis in these countries, encouraging their governments to choose policies that favor the prevailing order. In practice, that means using trade incentives, military engagement, foreign aid, and diplomacy to prevent swing states from hosting axis members’ military bases, giving axis members access to their technology infrastructure or military equipment, or helping them circumvent Western sanctions.

Although competition with the axis may be inevitable, the United States must try to avoid direct conflict with any of its members. To that end, Washington should reaffirm its security commitments to bolster deterrence in the western Pacific, in the Middle East, on the Korean Peninsula, and on NATO’s eastern flank. The United States and its allies should also prepare for opportunistic aggression. If a Chinese invasion of Taiwan prompts U.S. military intervention, for instance, Russia may be tempted to move against another European country, and Iran or North Korea could escalate threats in their regions. Even if the axis members do not coordinate their aggression directly, concurrent conflicts could overwhelm the West. Washington will therefore need to press allies to invest in capabilities that the United States could not provide if it were already engaged in another military theater.

Confronting the axis will be expensive. A new strategy will require the United States to bolster its spending on defense, foreign aid, diplomacy, and strategic communications. Washington must direct aid to the frontlines of conflict between the axis and the West—including assistance to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, all of which face encroachment by axis members. Revisionists are emboldened by the sense that political divisions at home or exhaustion with international engagement will keep the United States on the sidelines of this competition; a comprehensive, well-resourced U.S. strategy with bipartisan support would help counter that impression. The alternative—a reduction in the U.S. global presence—would leave the fate of crucial regions in the hands not of friendly local powers but of axis members seeking to impose their revisionist and illiberal preferences.

THE FOUR-POWER THREAT

There is a tendency to downplay the significance of growing cooperation among China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. By turning to Beijing, this argument goes, Moscow merely signals its acceptance of the role of junior partner. Obtaining drones from Iran and munitions from North Korea demonstrates the desperation of a Russian war machine that incorrectly assumed that conquering Ukraine would be easy. China’s embrace of Russia shows only that Beijing could not achieve the positive relationship it originally sought with Europe and other Western powers. North Korea remains the world’s most isolated country, and Iran’s disruptive activities have backfired, strengthening regional cooperation among Israel, the United States, and Gulf countries.

Such analysis ignores the severity of the threat. Four powers, growing in strength and coordination, are united in their opposition to the prevailing world order and its U.S. leadership. Their combined economic and military capacity, together with their determination to change the way the world has worked since the end of the Cold War, make for a dangerous mix. This is a group bent on upheaval, and the United States and its partners must treat the axis as the generational challenge it is. They must reinforce the foundations of the international order and push back against those who act most vigorously to undermine it. It is likely impossible to arrest the emergence of this new axis, but keeping it from upending the current system is an achievable goal.

The West has everything it needs to triumph in this contest. Its combined economy is far larger, its militaries are significantly more powerful, its geography is more advantageous, its values are more attractive, and its democratic system is more stable. The United States and its partners should be confident in their own strengths, even as they appreciate the scale of effort necessary to compete with this budding anti-Western coalition. The new axis has already changed the picture of geopolitics—but Washington and its partners can still prevent the world of upheaval the axis hopes to usher in.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/axis-upheaval-russia-iran-north-korea-taylor-fontaine

Nah.  By the time they’ve gotten anywhere near the front they’ve seen rotting bodies everywhere.  No need to let anyone go to prove that point.

If she were a fair bit younger I might be in love with this lady:

WELL, WELL, WELL…TWO REFINERIES HIT.

Report of major UA drone attack in the Krasnodar area.  Three refineries hit, one military airfield, and “other objects.”

Breaking - Drone strike hits Krasnodar Krai refinery.  Close to the Kerch Bridge on the Russian side.  Big boom!

More video.

Another video of the above hit.

Reuters confirms hit on the cracking column via Russian source!!!

Twitter post and a new video of the above.

Ilsky Refinery hit, also near Krasnodar but apparently NOT the same refinery as the above link.

GIBBED.   EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMELY NSFW

Series of brutal kamikaze hits on Russian troops.

Interesting drone strike on Russian radar.  Might we be looking at a Ukrainian “Harpy” type drone?  The left-right yawing on the way in reminds me of a “bang-bang” guidance system.

Bradley at work.

Ukraine reports a SU-57 used in an attack yesterday

Dog sitting in the ruins of his home.

Big KIA numbers today!

Regarding Putin's opinion that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a geopolitical tragedy, I have to infer from various statements made by Western conservative/right wing elements that they agree with Putin.

Also, it appears that these conservative/right wing elements may hold the notion that it would not necessarily be a bad outcome if Russia returned to a state of control over its Near Abroad analogous to the control exercised by the Soviet Union.

This is very baffling to me...

⚡️ Over the past night, attempts by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks using aircraft-type UAVs on targets on the territory of the Russian Federation were stopped.

Sixty-six Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed and intercepted by air defense systems on duty over the territory of the Krasnodar Territory, and two more UAVs were destroyed over the Crimean Peninsula.

🔹 Russian Ministry of Defense

https://t.me/mod_russia/37991



Kushchevskaya airfield.
The control panel is almost intact, except for the windows. There is no visible damage to the underground communications of the flight control center. A fire is visible at the storage area for gliding bomb equipment. Fewer KABs will fall on the front line.

https://t.me/majdankrd/20676

Twitter video

???\uD83D\uDCA5 Consequences of a night drone attack on "Kushchevskaya" military airfield, Kuban, Russia. pic.twitter.com/0EWXfoQK9D

— MAKS 23 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83D\uDC40 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) April 27, 2024

🇷🇺🇺🇦 About a new drone attack on the Krasnodar region

Ukrainian formations again carried out a massive attack with drones on energy industry facilities and military infrastructure in the Krasnodar Territory.

▪️The first wave of a raid by over a dozen drones hit a military airfield on the outskirts of the village of Kushchevskaya in the Krasnodar Crane. According to preliminary data, there is destruction on the territory, the extent of which is now being established.

❗️Great attention should be paid to the leaked footage of Ministry of Emergency Situations employees clearing the rubble of one of the buildings on the territory of the military base. As in the case of the attacks on Crimea, some pro-Ukrainian citizens or those who simply do not understand the seriousness of the situation help the enemy assess the damage.

▪️In addition, in the Slavyansky, Seversky and Kushchevsky districts of the Krasnodar Territory, Ukrainian formations tried to attack oil plants and infrastructure.

▪️As a result of an attack by more than ten UAVs on the territory of the plant in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, a rectification column was damaged. The resulting fire was quickly extinguished, and the refinery's operations were partially suspended.

▪️At the Ilyisk Refinery, the arrival of 17 unmanned vehicles was recorded, as a result, the primary oil processing unit was damaged, the fire lasted more than half an hour, but was also eliminated.

▪️According to some reports, the Afipsky Oil Refinery could have been another target of the raid; there was no official information on damage on the territory of the plant.

❗️In total, air defense forces intercepted 66 UAVs over the Krasnodar Territory, and two more over the Crimean Peninsula.

🔻In recent months, the enemy has concentrated on attacks on refineries and oil storage facilities. We noted earlier that the purpose of such attacks is not only to cause damage to enterprises as such, but also to try to provoke an increase in prices in the energy sector, which could ultimately lead to increased inflation and growing discontent among the population.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are conducting massive raid after raid, which indicates that there is no shortage of drones. Due to the absence of attacks on Ukrainian facilities where UAVs are assembled (for example, Antonov), the Ukrainian Armed Forces have fully adjusted their production process. Moreover, the accuracy and performance of drones have increased.

Well, we must not forget about the activity of reconnaissance aircraft and drones of the United States and NATO, which, in anticipation of a massive attack, were monitoring the Krasnodar Territory. Both the French E-3F and the American RQ-4B were 190 km from Sochi, and clearly did not monitor vacationers on the Black Sea.

https://t.me/rybar/59553




https://t.me/fighter_bomber/16495

Yesterday

??\uD83C\uDFE5 In Kyiv, 2 hospitals are being urgently evacuated, one of which is a children's hospital, - KMDA.

??This is due to Russian video, which announces the attack on these medical institutions. And that, allegedly, there are "military personnel" - but that's not true.

— MAKS 23 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83D\uDC40 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) April 26, 2024

\uD83E\uDD2C Belarus is directly threatening to strike Kyiv hospitals...

"In the fight against terrorism we act according to the law of war [...], they have chosen Kyiv hospitals as their lair." https://t.co/sy087RzGeu pic.twitter.com/f3mYCF40by

— MAKS 23 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83D\uDC40 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) April 26, 2024

Video of evacuations

Kids' hospital in Kyiv forced to evacuate because some bloodthirsty terrorists spread lies about soldiers hiding there. This is the sickening result of Russia's disinformation. pic.twitter.com/F55M6Ucw4E

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) April 26, 2024

The evacuation of two #Kyiv hospitals, one of which is a children's hospital, after hostile resources announced that they were targets for the #ruZZian missiles.

Sick children are being taken out of the hospitals on stretchers under drips pic.twitter.com/fA9n086HnU

— Aurora Borealis \uD83E\uDD2B (@aborealis940) April 26, 2024

Klitschko

\uD83C\uDFE5 Two hospitals are being evacuated, one of which is the Children's Hospital on Bohatyrska Street, #Kyiv Mayor Klychko said.

Doctors are acting coordinatedly, and ambulances are taking patients to other hospitals in the city. ?? pic.twitter.com/3teLTisNGK

Detector Media  (@DetectorMediaEn) April 26, 2024

Still going, missiles in the air.

🔴 13:13 Air alarm in
                Poltava
🔴 13:13 Air alarm in
                Chernihiv region
🔴 13:13 Air alarm in
                Sumy region
🔴 13:14 Air alarm at
                Kharkiv region
🔴 13:15 Air alarm at
                Dnipropetrovsk
                region
🔴 13:30 Air alarm at
                Cherkasy region
🔴 13:30 Air alarm at
                Kyiv region
🔴 13:31 Air alarm in
                Kirovohrad region
https://t.me/povitryanatrivogaaa/87339



‼️✈️Activity of tactical aviation.
Threat of launch of KAB/KAR "X-59"🚀
https://t.me/povitryanatrivogaaa/87340



✈️Reconnaissance. UAV near Odessa.
Air defense work is possible.
https://t.me/povitryanatrivogaaa/87349


This will get updated-



⚡️ 21 adversary rockets were destroyed
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
On the night of April 27, 2024, the Russian invaders launched a combined attack on Ukraine with missiles of various types.

In total, the enemy used 34 air, ground and sea-based missiles:
- 9 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from Tu-95 MS strategic aviation aircraft (launch area of ​​Saratov Region - Russian Federation);
- 9 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air missiles (from the airspace of the Belgorod Region and from the waters of the Sea of ​​Azov);
- 2 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles (from Belgorod region - Russian Federation)
- 2 "Iskander-K" cruise missiles (from Crimea);
- 4 Kh-47M2 "Kinzhal" aeroballistic missiles from MiG-31K aircraft (launched from the airspace of the Ryazan and Tambov regions - Russian Federation);
- 8 Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea.

💥 Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, mobile fire groups and means of electronic warfare of the Defense Forces of Ukraine were involved in repelling the enemy's air attack.

As a result of anti-aircraft combat, 21 air targets were destroyed:
- 6 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles;
- 8 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air missiles;
- 1 "Iskander-K" cruise missile;
- 6 Kalibr cruise missiles.

Thanks to all the units that repelled the rocket attack of the occupiers that night.
🇺🇦 Together - to victory!
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
🇺🇦 Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk
https://t.me/ComAFUA/276



🔱On the night of 04/27/24, according to preliminary calculations, the defense forces destroyed from the launched means of destruction:

❗️ 6/9 Kh-101/555 air-based cruise missiles;

❗️ 8/9 guided air cruise missiles Kh-59/69;

❗️ 1/2 cruise missiles R-500 OTRK "Iskander-K";

❗️ 6/8 Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles;

❗️ 0/4 hypersonic aeroballistic missiles Kh-47m2 of the "Kinzhal" complex;

❗️ 0/2 anti-aircraft guided missiles "S-300".

@war_monitor •
https://t.me/war_monitor/16843


They can’t get the fast stuff.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor

▪️In the morning, the region experienced another massive attack.

Air defense forces destroyed 13 missiles in the Dnipro, Kryvorizky and Pavlograd districts.
But, unfortunately, it did not pass without consequences. Energy facilities were damaged in the Dnipro and Kryvorizka districts. Several engagements took place.

A 39-year-old man was injured. He was hospitalized in moderate condition.

There are interruptions with water supply in Kryvorizhzhia.

▪️In the evening and at night, the aggressor continued to hunt around Nikopol region. He shelled the area three times with artillery and hit the anti-aircraft missile 4 times. The consequences are in the photo.

Nikopol himself got the most. An 82-year-old woman was injured. He will recover at home.
7 five-story buildings, a market, more than 10 shops, an administration building, a beauty salon were damaged.

It was also loud in the Chervonogrihorivska and Marganetska communities. In the last one, the car was broken. The survey of the affected areas is ongoing.

▪️Due to the shelling of the Marganets community that happened the day before, 2 villages were left without electricity. These are 600 subscribers. Specialists repair networks.
https://t.me/dnipropetrovskaODA/12428



‼️The enemy hit an infrastructure object in the Dnipro district. There was a fire there.
https://t.me/dnipropetrovskaODA/12435



Lviv Governor

During the air alert, which lasted in Lviv region from 03:58 to 06:02, our region survived the attack by cruise missiles of various classes and aeroballistic "dagger" missiles.

Soldiers of PvK Zahid shot down three cruise missiles.

Unfortunately, there are also hits.

The enemy attacked two objects of critical energy infrastructure in the Stryi and Chervonohrad districts. Fires started on them. Emergency services quickly extinguished the fire. There is destruction.

❗️ As of this hour, there are no victims, victims, destruction of residential infrastructure in Lviv Oblast.

The life support systems of the region work normally. There are currently no reports of emergency power outages.

But only this night, the occupiers attacked energy infrastructure facilities in Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Lviv regions. It is difficult for the energy system to maintain the balance of production and consumption. We have to help.

To avoid having to apply hourly shutdowns, please do not turn on energy-intensive electrical appliances between 19:00 and 22:00. Limit the simultaneous activation of such devices.

‼️What energy-intensive devices are we talking about:
air conditioner, electric kettle, vacuum cleaner, boiler, heater, iron, washing machine, microwave oven, electric oven.

Also, turn off all appliances that are not in use, and use energy-saving lamps for lighting.
https://t.me/kozytskyy_maksym_official/13374



UA energy utility

‼️Russia attacked 4 TPP DTEK, the equipment was seriously damaged

The enemy once again massively shelled the energy facilities of Ukraine. Four DTEK thermal power plants were damaged in the attack tonight.
According to preliminary information, unfortunately, there are victims. We provide all necessary assistance.

Enterprise equipment was seriously damaged. At the moment, energy workers are trying to eliminate the consequences of the attack.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the DTEK thermal power plant has been fired upon more than 170 times.
https://t.me/dtek_ua/1453

\uD83D\uDC40\uD83D\uDD25?
Ukrainian special forces hit the new Russian Radar 48Ya6-K1 “Podlet K1”, the cost of such a radar is more than 700 million rubles or more than 5 million dollars.

The specified system was used by the enemy to detect and transmit target coordinates to the Russian… pic.twitter.com/1OXjWe5wkh

— Kvist.P \uD83C\uDDE9\uD83C\uDDF0\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@kvistp) April 27, 2024

Footage of multiple Ukrainian drones from the GUR's Gusy-9 unit attacking a modern Russian 48Ya6-K1 “Podlet K1” radar installation, seen here successfully hitting the radar antenna and the installation's generator. pic.twitter.com/GscIHRyVfB

OSINTtechnical  (@Osinttechnical) April 27, 2024

Source- https://t.co/tnNEJsyRr6 pic.twitter.com/thQ3inLfQP

OSINTtechnical  (@Osinttechnical) April 27, 2024

1/2 Guerre d'Ukraine | 26/04/24

Secteurs :
\uD83C\uDF10 Avdiivka-Ocheretyne\uD83D\uDD39U240426-1005
\uD83C\uDF10 Ocheretyne-Semenivka\uD83D\uDD39U240426-1010
\uD83C\uDF10 Kupiansk-Kyslivka\uD83D\uDD39U240426-0951
\uD83C\uDF10 Kyslivka\uD83D\uDD39U240426-1026#UkraineRussianWar #GuerreEnUkraine pic.twitter.com/8uiOJhyem0

Poulet volant  (@Pouletvolant3) April 27, 2024

??The \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6Ukrainian military began using Yak-52 light aircraft to shoot down \uD83C\uDDF7\uD83C\uDDFARussian Orlan-10 reconnaissance UAVs pic.twitter.com/1e9Wn7lAex

— \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) April 27, 2024

\uD83D\uDE33 Russian oil depots... pic.twitter.com/qhNhksUz3s

— MAKS 23 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83D\uDC40 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) April 27, 2024

These are powerful enough to shoot down cruise missiles, so an interesting capability to help keep U.S. expendable weapons magazines topped off and they aren't gigantic.

Lockheed Martin 300 kW High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative laser. Delivered in 2023, the 300kW Laser is foundational to the initial IFPC-HEL prototypes for the Army that will be delivered in the coming month. The 300kW IFPC-HEL will be the most powerful SSLs with the US Army. pic.twitter.com/0ckoJC0rBt

— AirPower 2.0 (MIL_STD) (@AirPowerNEW1) April 27, 2024

Posted earlier, but identified as the Polish Warmate drone munition, very similar to the U.S. Switchblade 300, but with a larger warhead that is interchangeable.

Loitering munition strike on the Russian 48Ya6-K1 “Podlet K1” radar station. Judging by the interface it was a polish Warmate loitering munition. https://t.co/WrypOBgvX0 pic.twitter.com/xiYnEcBHSA

— Special Kherson Cat \uD83D\uDC08\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@bayraktar_1love) April 27, 2024

https://mezha.media/en/2022/04/25/the-warmate-uav-a-polish-alternative-to-the-switchblades-kamikaze-drone-already-in-ukraine/

This was too much even for Russians, one of the few times all the Telegram channels agreed on something.


The Cheka-OGPU became aware of the true motive of the Russian military personnel who brutally massacred at least five civilians in the Kherson region. According to the source, the version of the conflict over vacant houses was invented “for cover,” since the soldiers turned out to be real scumbags.

Servicemen of unit 33702 of the Russian Ministry of Defense, 33-year-old Alexander Osipov and 37-year-old Alexander Kaygorodtsev, who had been previously convicted several times (including for murder), spent the whole night from April 23 to 24 traveling between the two neighboring villages of Abrikosovka and Podo-Kalinovka in search of alcohol. Where they were refused, they killed residents and burned their houses.

This is what they did with 64-year-old Valentina Starchenko, whom the monsters shot in the back right next to the fence on the site, threw a grenade into the house and burned her home on Oktyabrskaya Street Podo-Kalinovka.

No less tragic was the fate of a 32-year-old resident of the same village, Sergei Shuvaev, and his friend (it is only known that he is a military serviceman and his name is Maxim). Apparently the killers had found alcohol by that time and drank to the point of unconsciousness. Shuvaev's house on Lenin Street was burned to the ground, and the bodies of the men were found in a forest belt at the exit from the village of Abrikosovka. They were shot and tried to burn them.

As for the reprisal against the 54-year-old head of the administration of the village of Abrikosovka, Lyubov Tymchak, and her partner, 39-year-old military unit 11739 serviceman Alexei Glinin, their fanatics killed them with particular cruelty. Alexander Osipov and Alexander Kaygorodov came to the house on Vostochnaya Street (Abrikosovka village) purposefully because they considered the official and her husband to be “waiters.” The killers disfigured their bodies, split their skulls and tried to burn them.

It is known that at each crime scene the killers left evidence: shell casings, bullets, grenade rings. The UAZ “Patriot” pickup truck, belonging to unit 33702, in which Osipov and Kaygorodov were traveling, was found near the administration building of the village of Podo-Kalinovka. An AK-12 assault rifle, grenades and a bulletproof vest were found in the car. The criminal case will be investigated by the 126th Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee.

https://t.me/vchkogpu/47855

Two Russian servicemen have been detained in the occupied Kherson Region: they killed 5 people

Among those killed were two Russian military officers, two civilians and a collaborator Lyubov Tymchak, who headed the village of Abrikosovka under the Russian occupation. It is… pic.twitter.com/M1SNrri3xL

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 25, 2024

Lucky Russian serviceman dodges an FPV drone attacking his position. pic.twitter.com/ayF1OPEVtr

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) April 27, 2024

Here are losses I could identify for yesterday. https://t.co/6ZeZYh0yAV pic.twitter.com/jAhAlsspoR

Andrew Perpetua  (@AndrewPerpetua) April 27, 2024

Krasnodar Krai
Damage to various equipment and glide bomb kits at the Kushchyovskaya airbase.
Two Flanker Nearby
Location: 46.535363088, 39.5492035981@UAControlMap @GeoConfirmed https://t.co/opp7lSfcfs pic.twitter.com/VEMFboCnmG

— imi (m) (@moklasen) April 27, 2024

?\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83D\uDCAA\uD83D\uDCA5A Ukrainian drone drops an anti-tank mine on a Russian ammunition depot. pic.twitter.com/9ih5bRrlIt

— \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 UkraineNewsLive\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@UkraineNewsLive) April 27, 2024

🇯🇵🇺🇦 Agreements between Herman Halushchenko and the leadership of the Japan International Cooperation Agency: more than 100 powerful generators will arrive in Ukraine

During the visit to Japan, the Ukrainian delegation led by the Minister of Energy Herman Galushchenko held a meeting with the leadership of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The minister thanked Japan and JICA directly for the financial and technical assistance to the Ukrainian energy sector, in particular the provided gas turbines and transformers. He emphasized that the Japanese side is one of the leaders in providing assistance in this direction.

The head of the Ministry of Energy informed the Japanese side about the state of the Ukrainian energy system after the latest massive Russian attacks, and also familiarized himself with the needs of the energy sector.

"The key tasks are to increase generation capacity as quickly as possible before winter and replace damaged autotransformers to ensure the stability of electricity transmission. The fastest way to increase generation is gas turbine and gas piston installations. It is also important to provide mobile generating units of high power."
- noted Herman Galushchenko.

✅ According to the results of the meeting, it was agreed to supply Ukraine with more than 100 large generators with a total capacity of more than 130 MW.

▶️It should be noted that in February 2024, JICA and the Government of Ukraine signed an agreement on the provision of grant assistance in the amount of up to 15.8 million Japanese yen for the Emergency Recovery Program (Phase 3). Grant assistance agreements for the first and second phases of this program were signed in spring 2023 (22.44 million yen and 53.072 million yen, respectively).

▶️For the needs of our energy sector, energy equipment and protective structures for the restoration of destroyed electricity facilities, automotive equipment, cables, welding machines, supports, transformer substations have already been transferred from Japan. In addition, Japan provided equipment to eliminate the consequences of the flood caused by the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam.!

https://t.me/energyofukraine/2115

Been working on hypotheses for GLSDB’s lackluster performance. My current thinking is two-fold.

1) GPS denial. GLSDB is meant to be employed at much greater ranges than GMLRS. This means greater time of flight, longer GPS denied flight, more INS drift, and finally less precision https://t.co/QweguYiGLW

— John Ridge \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDF8 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@John_A_Ridge) April 26, 2024

2) TTPs. The Joint Navigational Warfare Center has been helping the ZSU incorporate suppression of emitters into GMLRS/JDAM-ER mission planning.

I suspect Ukraine lacks the supporting assets to effectively suppress Russian emitters at the extended ranges GLSDB is employed at.

— John Ridge \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDF8 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@John_A_Ridge) April 26, 2024

The interesting thing is that GLSDB was specifically designed and marketed for GPS-denied environments. So it makes you wonder if it was actually an oversight, or if there's some sort of technical issue that needs correcting.

Crimson  (@CrimsonInquiry) April 26, 2024

So are GMLRS and JDAM. Almost everything has anti-jam via CRPA elements and and anti-spoof via SAASM

— John Ridge \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDF8 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@John_A_Ridge) April 26, 2024

JDAM-ER and GMLRS are still effective but with nuance of course. At lot of work has to go into mission planning to achieve good effects for well defended targets

— John Ridge \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDF8 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@John_A_Ridge) April 26, 2024

This, but another factor is that there is no way we are sending our latest M-code anti GPS denial stuff to Ukraine.
I also feel that the weapon is pretty complex to progam to it's target from the ground launcher, because the bomb can do some interesting maneuvers to hit the target if required.  So training and mission planning could be a significant factor as well.

SDBs were designed to be dropped from aircraft, which would give accurate coords and direction at time of release. The M26 rocket boosters seem to lack onboard guidance, and could be throwing the SDB off more than expected.

PocketMagnifier  (@MagnifierPocket) April 26, 2024

To this I would add flight profile. GMLRS is, unless I'm mistaken, a ballistic weapon and so it spends most of its flight time at high altitudes - only descending once horizontal distance to target has been closed significantly. This puts it closer to the GPS signals and further…

planefag  (@planefag) April 26, 2024

Fails is the wrong word, less accurate would be a better way of putting it

GMLRS is not really a ballistic weapon either, it uses a shaped trajectory

Russian channels are dissatisfied with the official coverage of successful attacks on the occupiers’ energy facilities. They're asking, what are these “fragments” that are taking out our refineries one by one? pic.twitter.com/GsK4oy8qpJ

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) April 27, 2024

The term "fragments" in this context likely refers to fragments of information or details about the attacks. It could imply that the coverage of these successful attacks is lacking in providing comprehensive details about what exactly is happening and how these attacks are being…

Shahid Razzaq  (@shahidrazzaq007) April 27, 2024

Exactly, correct on both counts and the less accuracy part can come from multiple sources both mechanical and human.

Related to the concern the U.S. Air Force doesn't have enough planes.  They are moving forward with CCA's or collaborative combat aircraft.  Drones with AI and capable of carrying air to air missiles and bombs, as well as surveillance equipment like their own AESA radar.

https://www.twz.com/air/xq-67-confirmed-to-be-a-prototype-for-general-atomics-collaborative-combat-aircraft-design

The race to collapse in on!! Between Russia, USA, China, and the EU. I'm betting that Russia is first. Russia has lots of ingrained problems but this idiotic war will really speed things up for them. Had the conquest of Ukraine gone as planned, they may have gotten a little more time but just the opposite has happened. The USA is totally polarized between two camps: Marxists and free-market individualists. And we are broke with a very big bill needing payment soon. The EU has similar problems but the Marxists seem well in control and are flooding the continent with migrants in an attempt to have a permanent serf class they can use to keep them in power. Same with the USA.

??\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83C\uDDFAAustralia is preparing a new $100 million aid package for \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6Ukraine, - Prime Minister of Ukraine Shmyhal

Half of this amount will be directed to a large batch of MANPADS. More than 30 million dollars - for drones within the "drone coalition", and the rest of the amount - for… pic.twitter.com/EpEj3DC6eh

— \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) April 27, 2024

Australia is a big buyer of the JDAM ER glide kits because of their operating environment.

Adventures of Russian students at the Ukrainian Academy of Life pic.twitter.com/jSkyFm0eXS

TOGA  (@TOGAjano21) April 27, 2024

Agreed. And a similar problem exists here in the USA, although from the opposite direction. We have spread anti-American self-hatred here for too long and it has taken root. When certain ideas take root, fester, and metastasize, it will take a very strong and destructive "fever" to kill off. Like in Germany 1930's...

?? This is the route of the Russian missiles during the morning attack. pic.twitter.com/G9qGfohJ8s

— MAKS 23 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83D\uDC40 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) April 27, 2024

It seems England is still actively manufacturing Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

As the first journalists inside MBDA's Storm Shadow production facility, classified "secret", we watched as a group of highly skilled technicians assembled the weapons by hand @Steven_Swinford https://t.co/cXBuAljV0l

Larisa Brown  (@larisamlbrown) April 27, 2024

\uD83C\uDDEE\uD83C\uDDF9\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6
As imagined, Italy has provided to Ukraine an unknown amount of Storm Shadow missiles. Like always Italian aid to Ukraine is kept secret. @grantshapps just revealed that they were sent together with France last year and were actively used to strike Crimea. pic.twitter.com/KySQ4QNOPi

A-129 Mangusta  (@NichoConcu) April 27, 2024

OK. I'm an ex M60 gunner (finished off on the M249) so that ROF sounds wonderful in comparison. I could fire single or two shots on the 60 but I think thats not good for the sear.

New Axis

China GDP - $18T (if you believe Chinese economic data)
Russia GDP - $2T (about Italy, but with 4x the population)
Iran GDP - $0.5T

Total - $20.5T


Old Allies

US GDP - $30T
EU GDP - $15T
UK GDP - $3.5T
Japan GDP - $4T
SK GDP - $1.7T
Canada GDP - $2.5T
Australia GDP $1.8T

Total - $58.5T

Granted, Canada and the EU are pretty wobbly (less so since the RUS/UKR war) and if the commies continue to make progress in the US, we are in trouble, but that is true regardless if there is a New Axis or not.

The New Axis doesn't have the economic power to affect the Allies too much nor the military power to achieve anything by war, as clearly demonstrated by the Russian incompetence in UKR.

They can only cause mischief around the edges, but that they do very well.  As long as Dem/commie/MSM narrative is not taken seriously, they will remain fringe players.  Unfortunately, they are having great success at least in some parts of the US.

For the same reason the Left is throwing all of our traditional overseas allies under the bus in favor of the Iranians, Venezuelans, various anti-American third worlders, and so forth.  They just want someone to lay down the law so they can concentrate on their domestic "Real" enemies.  Foreign affairs are hard and always have been.  In the British Empire era, it required a huge fleet with roughly 90% of their ground combat forces being stationed (and often trained and recruited) outside the British Isles.  In the competition for domestic power (for both sides), anything overseas is just a distraction, and empowering some foreign tyranny to "keep things under control" is sort of an "Easy" button.  Add in the emerging view on both sides that every aspect of the government they don't control is illegitimate and/or evil, and if the other side is for it I have to be against it since there is a "catch" where they will get more power out of the deal (which, given the proclivities of our so-called "governing class" is often a justified concern), and we enter a death spiral where perverse incentives overcome objective facts.  America is being driven by it's extremes towards a "low-trust" society, and our "elites" are to compromised and clueless to even identify this as an issue, let alone do anything to fix it.

Finally, something I suggested a long, long time ago.  Yak-52 armed with machine-gun shoots down an Orlan-10!

Munition/glide bomb kit storage area hit at Russian airfield

Kamikaze strikes on Russians hiding under knocked-out vehicles, and a snippet of trench-clearing.

Drone horizontal bomber drops on Russian 2s7 Pion and truck

A couple of grenade drops on Russians

EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMLY NSFW.  Rare kamikaze immediate aftermath shot from the Russian POV.  Drone operator literally painted on a wall, with the rest of him laying in a pile.  Also has to chase off a dog who’s grabbing a little takeout.  Not even kidding.

Kamikaze hit kills two Russians

UA kamikazes hit Russian transport and fuck up the four passengers

Two kamikaze strikes and several “package droppers” on Russian positions.  One VERY VERY NSFW.

Series of night kamikaze strikes on Russian transport and armored vehicles.

Drone drops likely kill a lone Russian in trench.  NSFW.

Kamikaze blows up abandoned Russian tank.

Drone drop to finish off a likely already dying and very identifiable Russian.  NSFW.

Kamikaze burns down Russian Kamaz truck.

Series of kamikaze hits on Russian positions

Kamikaze vs Russian with shovel

More video from refinery attacks

It's not, but it was commonly done anyway.  The M-60 when it was maintained well and assembled correctly was an awesome machine gun; however, it had it's quirks and weaknesses.  I definitely preferred it over the early SAW. (also a former M-60 gunner)

The Special Operations Forces of Ukraine can now deploy small tethered aerostats for radio communications.
They report a huge increase in communication ranges during testing. pic.twitter.com/9ZU2FIqVbz

— Roy\uD83C\uDDE8\uD83C\uDDE6 (@GrandpaRoy2) April 27, 2024

It isn't just the left doing that.

Yeah, don’t ask me, I wouldn’t know…..

Well, that won't work like Putin planned if we shoot back.

\uD83D\uDC40?? The view from the cockpit of "Yak-52" during the shot down of Russian "Orlan" UAV in Odesa. pic.twitter.com/cZQXtBqXQ6

— MAKS 23 \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83D\uDC40 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) April 27, 2024

The South's defense forces officially confirmed the use of light aircraft in shooting down enemy drones.


So. Light-engined aviation really entered the air battle against Russian threats. The place of application of this component was Odesa.

By the way, a few days ago we wrote about the fact that due to the stupidity of the Odesa Telegram-publics, one of our pilots was almost shot down, who was mistaken for a Shahed-136.
Well, it was one of them that is now hunting kamikaze drones and reconnaissance UAVs.

Once again, this shows: if your direct gyrus does not know something, then it is better not to write, not to say, do not open your mouth at all and do not tap on the keyboard, because this can lead to extremely sad consequences. Just a call to the ambitious and atrophied Odessa Telegram channels - flounder, don't do things that are not of your level.

And in general, let's say this: not the Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, but not bad either, in terms of destroying objects at a cruising speed of 150 km/h.

And if there was a Super Tucano, it would be better. But we have what we have.

(According to the materials of O. Kovalenko)

https://t.me/eRadarrua/16234

Oligarch who fled Ukraine back to Russia starts crypto exchange.
It ends predictably.

For the past 24 hours, deceived Beribit clients have been storming the company’s office in the Moscow City International Business Center - employees are not getting in touch with people, and there was enough money to repay the debt only to those who came first

??? ????? ????????? ??????? Beribit ???????? ???? ???????? ? ???? «??????-????» — ????????? ?? ??????? ?? ????? ? ??????, ? ????? ???????, ????? ???????? ???? ?????? ????? ????, ??? ?????? ?????? pic.twitter.com/SvcXGyPLiu

— ??? ?????????? (@Q0MT6pFmbVqynsM) April 27, 2024

In Moscow, depositors of the crypto exchange Beribit were given chocolates instead of money

Approximately $4.3 million of investors' funds are frozen in the accounts of the crypto exchange. Customers have been storming the office for the second day, demanding their money back.… pic.twitter.com/udvlommsOI

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 27, 2024

The fun with the Beribit exchange, which belongs to oligarch Kurchenko, who fled from Ukraine to Moscow, continues

???????? ? ?????? Beribit, ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ? ??????? ? ?????? ???????? ???????? ???????????? pic.twitter.com/XJkupPYBA5

— Oles Filonenko \uD83E\uDD37\uD83C\uDFFC??? (@FilonenkoOles) April 27, 2024

Since 11 a.m., customers of the Beribit cryptocurrency exchange have been encircling Moscow's Federation Tower offices, and the number of irate depositors is only increasing.
Representatives of the corporation attempted to leave through the rear door. \uD83D\uDE06 #RussiaIsCollapsing pic.twitter.com/HZJYTTepZk

Paolo Brrr bonking vatniks  (@lassaperd) April 27, 2024

M2A2 ODS-SA Bradley of the 47th OMBr "Magura" destroys Russian positions in the Avdiyiv direction, Donetsk region
(Meanwhile, medics conducted an evacuation where pickup trucks simply cannot reach)

M2A2 ODS-SA Bradley 47-? ???? "??????" ????????? ????????? ??????? ?? ???????????? ????????, ?????????
(??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????????? ???,???? ?????? ?????? ?? ??????????) pic.twitter.com/Mtjd1Hzkje

— ????????? ?? ?????? (@small10space) April 27, 2024

south of Novobakhmutivka, Donetsk
geo(0:02): 48.214270, 37.623931
ref: sentinel(2024-04-22)@GeoConfirmed @UAControlMap pic.twitter.com/zVaW0v5xji

— mon_mon (@mon_mon_1064552) April 27, 2024

I always guessed 2026 was going to be a good year for Ukraine.

On the topic of when #Russia might run out of materiel, these are some simple models that might give clues. The approach and parameters for each are in a caption at the bottom of the image. First: tanks. Viability likely until some time in 2027. 1/n pic.twitter.com/IAn0cUJP39

whitherapathy  (@whitherapathy) April 27, 2024

Prediction of when #Russian SPGs might run out. Middle of next year maybe, all other things being equal (which they won't be.) I must update the tank chart to this design - it's much cleaner. 2/n pic.twitter.com/d5WoTHQs8v

whitherapathy  (@whitherapathy) April 27, 2024

Finally, looking at artillery more generally and asking the question of how many rounds #Russia might be able to fire from its barrels. This is further out: 2028 or so. Which is after the SPGs are likely to have run out. (Chart concept courtesy of @SandwichesSo3). End. pic.twitter.com/45HpchbQ7h

whitherapathy  (@whitherapathy) April 27, 2024

Putin would fall and a pro-NATO Russian takes over. China then invades the East seeing that as a threat. The West then intervenes on Russia's behalf.

The first twenty seconds of this is worth it.
On brand for Azov.

The loader on that 05, needs to ball up his hand like a fist instead of grabbing the base of cartridge like that, if he keeps doing that he will eventually loose the tips of his fingers.

🇺🇦🇫🇷 On the training of Ukrainian pilots in France

French news agencies talk about the training of Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighter jets at the 120th airbase of Cazeau in New Aquitaine.

Some publications say that four people are already being trained in the town of Cazeau, in the forests near the Bay of Biscay, and six more will arrive in France in the summer.

The training is currently taking place on AlphaJet training planes, apparently owned by a private military company called Top Aces. This is a Canadian-registered firm (there is an office in Germany) that trains military pilots.

Another company mentioned in the French media is the PMC SDTS. An organization that performs a different range of tasks in the interests of France. Members of SDTS participated in almost all French operations abroad. They have training attack aircraft MB339 on the balance sheet. It is worth adding that, in addition to specialists from Top Aces, instructors from Belgium arrived.

\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83C\uDDEB\uD83C\uDDF7 On the training of Ukrainian pilots in France

French news agencies talk about the training of Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighter jets at the 120th airbase of Cazeau in New Aquitaine.

Some publications say that four people are already being trained in the town of… pic.twitter.com/QWAbHqLmKw

— Rybar Force (@rybar_force) April 27, 2024

The Top Aces have their own F-16As, which they purchased in 2021 from Israel, so after the course on the AlphaJet or MB339, most likely, the same pilots will be trained on American fighters. Moreover, Belgians also operate F-16A, and they were transferred to the needs of the AFU.

The choice of the Cazaux airbase is also not accidental. In the forests to the south of Arkashon, comparatively not far from there, there is a base in Mont-de-Marsan, where members of the AFU were and are trained to operate VAB APCs and GRIFFON APCs. The Tarb arsenal, the gunpowder factory in Bergerac and the paratroopers' base in Pau , where Ukrainian forces have already trained, are also located somewhere there - in fact, the region has been given over to the training and supply of the AFU (no one asked the residents, respectively).

At the same time, the information that Ukrainians are still being trained should not mislead anyone. There are already ready fighter pilots, so they will definitely appear in combat when they receive authorization to use them, and those who are being trained now are being trained for the future.

The Top Aces have their own F-16As, which they purchased in 2021 from Israel, so after the course on the AlphaJet or MB339, most likely, the same pilots will be trained on American fighters. Moreover, Belgians also operate F-16A, and they were transferred to the needs of the AFU.…

— Rybar Force (@rybar_force) April 27, 2024