Shit is getting interesting that is for sure.

Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, along with Major General Anatoliy Barhylevych, delivered Ukrainian-made military equipment to soldiers from the 225th Separate Assault Battalion. The equipment, consisting of 15 Kozak-2M1 armored vehicles and 25 Kozak-5 multi-purpose armored… pic.twitter.com/S9i37aiA6W

— NOELREPORTS \uD83C\uDDEA\uD83C\uDDFA \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@NOELreports) April 23, 2024

Attached File

Russian "blogger" describes the use of drones by Ukrainians from the words of a russian officer he knows. An interesting perspective. pic.twitter.com/QVQePTQWC0

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) April 23, 2024

In the near term, we need a plan to address TWSC and their semiconductor production. There needs to be a plan to save key tooling and personnel from Taiwan if it comes under threat and we need to stand-up U.S. semiconductor production as soon as possible.  We also need a plan to deny the Chinese any use of TWSC should they be in a position to seize Taiwan.

Also in the near term, we need to cool things down a bit even if it means taking a less aggressive foreign policy stance.  We're not in a position to go around jumping into every damn fight right now.

In the long term we need to improve our dual use manufacturing in this nation.  All items procured by the military should be based as heavily on common commercial parts as possible.  In other words, our military purchases too many Ferraris and not enough Ford F-150s.   Those sole source suppliers are hampering our military's ability to procure things in greater number or provide enough money to improve recruitment and retention.  We have Lockheed Martin years behind in delivery of F-35s and their delivery schedule is slipping farther in 2024.   China has 232 times more ship production capability than the USA. Our ship building is almost entirely for the USN with very little commercial ships built in the USA anymore.  Those ship yards need commercial production to justify having the production capacity to be in a position to crank out ships if we end up in a major Naval war in the Pacific.  General Dynamics and others are as far behind as three years on delivery of ships to the US Navy.

We get into a serious war in the Indo-China Pacific region and at the same time end up in a conflict in Europe we're going to be in deep #$%* without the shoes for it.  Yet, I see the Biden Admin and all of DC slow walking us into those conflicts.  

That's absolutely absurd

But it's the old commie logic "this year was the best wheat harvest ever!" Garbage.

Before and After the Crocus City Hall Attack: Tajik Migrants in Russia
An interview with Malika Bahovadinova on the complexities of the Tajik migration experience in Russia.


On March 22, as a Russian band was preparing to take the stage at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the outskirts of Moscow before a sold-out house, four gunman entered the hall. They opened fire and set the concert hall ablaze. More than 500 people were injured, and ultimately 145 people were killed.

Almost immediately, media reports identified the attackers as ethnic Tajiks. Two days after the attack, four suspects appeared in a Moscow court, each bearing visible signs of torture – bruised eyes, a severed ear. Their court appearance was prefaced by videos circulating on social media of their violent interrogations.

The exact number fluctuates, but it’s estimated that around 1 million Tajik citizens are in Russia at any given time; in 2022, remittances, as a share of Tajikistan’s GDP, hit 51 percent.

Despite media reports of increased pressure on Tajik migrant workers and others from Central Asia in Russia in the wake of the Crocus City Hall attack, “Racialized violence was always part and parcel of mobility to Russia,” political anthropologist Malika Bahovadinova told The Diplomat.

In the following interview, Bahovadinova, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Amsterdam researching Central Asian migration to Russia, explains the role Tajik migrants play in the economies of both Russia and Tajikistan, dives into Russia’s ever-evolving migration system, and helps dissect some of the complexities often missed in reporting on Central Asian migration to Russia.

In the wake of the Crocus City Hall attack, we have seen increased media reports of incidents of discrimination and abuse directed toward Central Asian migrants, particularly Tajiks. How have conditions changed for this community since the attack? Is the present moment a continuation of existing conditions or a departure?

The past month certainly has seen more reports of violence and abuse against migrant workers – but in many ways the situation had been worsening before this as well. Indeed, 2023 was also a year of increased violence against foreign workers in Russia. In May 2023, it started with 100 students from Tajikistan being rounded up in their dormitory and severely beaten by law enforcement in Russia. According to eyewitness accounts, law enforcement officials entered the dormitory, locked the entry and exit doors, blocked the cameras, and started to beat all the students. It is unclear why the students were targeted in this incident; according to available accounts if someone dared to ask the reason for the assault they were beaten more.

Racialized violence was always part and parcel of mobility to Russia, with Tajikistani citizens often bearing the brunt of such violence for no reason other than being representatives of the least protected group. However, such open displays of torture – such as we have seen after the recent attack – were quite shocking.

Tajikistan citizens tend to be the most marginalized of minority groups in Russia, including in their treatment by law enforcement. As a result, the collective punishment of migrant workers in the aftermath of the tragic attack did not come as a major surprise, unfortunately. Suddenly, rates of deportation increased, people with darker phenotypes were stopped throughout cities by the police, raids and verification intensified.

We should also note that this is not a specifically “Russian” response. The sadistic revenge meted out by Russian law enforcement, which we all saw in the signs of torture and the videos distributed in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, was enabled by the wider legacy of America’s “war on terror.” Regarding the Crocus attack, we can also observe how Western media and experts quickly picked up the story, erroneously labeling ISKP as a “Tajik” organization and looking for specific attributes of Tajikistani citizens while trying to understand their assumed radicalization. The story was wholeheartedly embraced in the West because it all “makes sense” if we will think about the legacies of the war on terror. Russia’s response to the attack was an extension of the Western and global trajectory of Islamophobic violence, not an exception.

Can you explain some of the myriad ways migrant workers fit into (or not) Russian society? How important is this contingent of workers to the Russian economy?

Russia’s construction, service, and (increasingly) manufacturing sectors heavily rely on the labor of foreign workers. This reliance is enabled by various factors, including, significantly, Russia’s demographic decline. Russia needs workers; the experience of rapid marketization and privatization in the 1990s, which plunged many citizens in Russia to poverty, led to reduced birth rates. According to demographers, millions of people were not born – people who would now be in the workforce. As a result, Russia needs manpower to keep its current infrastructure running – and it also needs to annually attract around 1 million new residents a year to stabilize its ongoing demographic decline. This is unlikely to happen, of course, as migration corridors to Russia are being currently reshaped.

In addition, many sectors of the Russian labor market rely on legally unprotected non-citizens to further their profits and benefit from their work. Labor outsourcing is not unusual in industries that employ non-citizens. This involves contracts being given not to individuals, but to subcontractors, who then hire vulnerable workers, such as non-citizens, and pay them less. This further reinforces the precarity of those “employed” on such contracts.

Again, this is also not unique to Russia; rather it is a sign of global neoliberalization and the continued proliferation of capitalistic forms of making money through brokerage. We also need to remember that non-citizen labor is a cheaper and more obedient type of labor, especially if you can discipline such labor through harsh migration regulations and police violence. Migrant workers are a particularly vulnerable strata of society in Russia because most migration controls and disciplining practices are happening inside Russia. Visa-free mobility means that it is migration law and violence in migration that are mobilized to “discipline” foreign workers. Both are also mobilized when crisis moments occur, such as we have seen with the reaction to the Crocus attack.

What role do migrant workers play for Tajikistan – for those who remain in Tajikistan and the Tajik economy more broadly?

In response to this question, many people would probably be quick to note the high remittances to Tajikistan, equivalent to a significant proportion of the country’s GDP. The economy in Tajikistan is extremely dependent on remittances and the foreign currency they bring.

This, however, would ignore the wider and long-term repercussions of the local population’s mass exodus for migration. There is a remaining Soviet myth of “labor excessiveness” (trudoizbitochnost) in Tajikistan, and local officials are quick to refer to this myth when explaining the need for labor migration to Russia. Every year, according to this discourse, Tajikistan produces 100,000 workers, and the local economy is unable to provide jobs for them; there is no other option but to “export” them to Russia.

This says more about the local economy and its organization rather than any real excess of labor. Why, for instance, does the Czech Republic not have the same problem of “labor excessiveness”? The Czech Republic also lacks large reserves of natural resources and is of the same population size as Tajikistan. The answer is that they started out with a highly educated population, and their leaders focused on different priorities.

Instead of trying to run after dreams of migration diversification, Tajikistan’s economy should instead incorporate more of its labor. Schools in Tajikistan are extremely overcrowded: Local teachers are sometimes teaching three full shifts a day; remote schools have no infrastructure in place to bus schoolchildren to schools. Education is just one example where we can observe a lack of qualified people and infrastructure – and where it would be possible to employ a great number of people as teachers, construction workers, bus drivers, and in many other roles.  

But this would require political will and funding – and a rethinking of where labor fits into the Tajikistani economy. Instead, more and more teachers are also emigrating to Russia.

Labor migration is not the only mode of mobility to Russia, and increasingly entire families relocate to Russia, seeing more educational and economic opportunities there. Such educational and economic opportunities should be available for many in Tajikistan. Migration, and this massive scope of mobility, depletes human capital. The dependency on migrants’ remittances, moreover, further reduces the need for radical economic reforms in the country and the need to address its endemic corruption.  

Some Central Asian states – like Kyrgyzstan – have warned their citizens against migration to Russia right now. Tajikistan, to my knowledge, has not. How should we interpret that decision? To what extent does the Tajik government care about the safety and conditions of its citizens working abroad?

The short answer, sadly, is not much. Only after four weeks had passed since the attacks did Tajikistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs finally criticize the use of torture and brutalization against the suspects, which had been publicly brandished in Russia to show the might of its revenge. This was too little and too late; most of the damage, so to speak, was already done. Initially, the basic principle of the presumption of innocence was not even evoked.

This speaks to the underlying relationship between state and society in Tajikistan: the state has not developed effective mechanisms of promoting and protecting the rights of migrant workers in Russia. The Tajik Embassy in Russia is often simply inaccessible for Tajikistani citizens. Many citizens stand for days in a huge crowd outside of the Embassy, only to be sent out once they get inside to make a copy of a document or correct some minor error. Then they must get back in the line and wait again.

The scenes of brutalization and the Tajikistani state’s initial refusal to comment on the evident use of torture will only further contribute to the vulnerable position of Tajikistani citizens in Russia. The lack of protection that we have seen over the past decades of racialized abuse speaks volume about the lack of any “social contract” between the Tajikistani state and migrant workers. If there is a contract, it is only one that feeds on migrant labor and their remittances, but which provides no responsibility or protection.

Of course, there are geopolitical hierarchies and asymmetrical relations between Tajikistan and Russia. This is true and there are objective limits in terms of protecting citizens’ rights in migration. Nonetheless, there is a lot of room for making citizens’ lives easier in migration. Making consular services accessible to the majority of the population in migration or regulating the exorbitant ticket prices to Russia would be a good start, for instance.

Can you describe, briefly, the regulations and legal framework that govern labor migration between Tajikistan and Russia? Do you see any indication that this system will change?

This is the most difficult question asked of any researcher working on migration to Russia. Russia’s migration legislation is complex and continuously changing. It is, after all, a substitute for a visa regime, and it requires a wide array of laws and mechanisms to enable its infrastructure.

In general, Russian migration legislation is doing two things at the same time: It criminalizes violations of migration legislation (which is not unique to Russia), and it makes it financially profitable for the state (which is more unique because it relies on direct payments made by migrant workers).

In 2013 and 2014, a new set of amendments and changes were made to Russia’s existing migration legislation. For instance, in 2013 two articles were added to the Code of Administrative Violations. These legal changes included the introduction of articles 18.8 (part 3 on the violation of rules of entry and stay in Russia) and 18.10 (part 2 on working illegally in Russia). In addition, one of the major changes included the expansion of reasons for entry bans to Russia, which now included legal, administrative, and epidemiological criteria. Having HIV, for instance, now qualifies a person for a permanent ban on entry to Russia. Three paid fines – for example, for the late payment of fees for even phone bills or minor traffic violations – can also lead to a re-entry ban. Living in a place other than a legal residence is another basis for a ban.

When it comes to monetizing migrant labor, the Russian legislation currently requires all foreign workers to receive a “work permit” (patent), which carries with itself significant monthly fees to the state. To receive a work permit, a person needs to pass Russian language, history, and migration law tests. In addition, they must receive a medical certificate. These are just a few of the changes passed over the last decade, and the law continues to change. In general, trying to understand Russian migration law is like running after a departing high-speed train. You are always falling behind.

In general, these constant changes in the law mean that it is not only extremely costly to be a migrant in Russia, and legally complex, but that people in migration are always deportable and removable from Russia. In my conversations with people who have worked in migration, I frequently have heard how it was often impossible to know whether your stay was completely legal or not. For instance, you don’t only need to pay a monthly fee for your work permit, you also need to send the confirmation of this payment to another agency and for that agency to record the payment. It’s some kind of paperwork circus.

What do you think is missing from the present discourse on Central Asian migrants in Russia?

Yes, absolutely, one such missing element is the perpetual cycle of debt that locks people into migration as a life-long strategy.

In the “migration and development” imagination there is this myth that workers go into migration, they learn skills, and they return to “develop” their countries. This ignores the high costs associated with mobility. It is not cheap to become a “migrant” almost anywhere.

To travel to Russia and start working requires a hefty amount of money, which people often borrow from their friends and extended network of family and relatives. You need to pay for expensive international passports (thanks to the West’s promotion of “legibility” and border controls) and exorbitant tickets to Russia (in Tajikistan they are the highest in the region). Those traveling need to purchase warm clothes and leave money for their families.

When many arrive in Russia, a whole set of new expenses kicks in: work permit associated costs, rent, food, monthly fees for the work permit – and all of these must be paid whether you found a job or not. Migrants are monetized ruthlessly by the whole infrastructure of mobility from Tajikistan to Russia. They borrow to earn relatively little. When many come back home, and more needs arise, there is nowhere else to turn to but to migration. You borrow again and you leave again.

https://thediplomat.com/2024/04/before-and-after-the-crocus-city-hall-attack-tajik-migrants-in-russia/

For those who haven’t followed the big thread, Russia is a constant stream of corruption.


Cutting 60 billion and one human life - the Cheka-OGPU will tell new sensational details of the construction of the St. Petersburg SKK Arena, which has become the most expensive in Russia.



Back at the end of March, colleagues from the editorial office of Lisa reported that the FSB had detained ex-St. Petersburg official Igor Zabiran. The arrest is connected with the case of Vladimir Lavlentsev (former vice-governor of St. Petersburg), against whom oligarch Gennady Timchenko filed more than one multi-billion-dollar claim and whom the Meshchansky District Court sent into custody on charges of major fraud. But, in all honesty, Zabiran should have been behind bars several years ago - both on powerful economic charges and on a criminal case related to the death of a worker during the collapse of the old SKK Arena. Let us recall that on January 30, 2020, during the dismantling of the metal roof of this Soviet sports facility, a sudden collapse of the concrete walls of the structure itself occurred. The object was almost completely destroyed, and the body of 29-year-old welder Matvey Kucherov remained under the rubble. As a result, the head of the SKK reconstruction, Igor Zabiran, was not injured in any way - the death of the worker was attributed to his violation of safety regulations, and the collapse of the walls was associated with the dilapidation of the building. But it was not accidental!

The video we are posting was made on the eve of the tragedy, on the night of January 29. The workers of the contractor "SK "Pride" Shevchenko brothers, following the instructions of Zabiran and his assistants, already then began sawing the metal cables connecting the walls of the "SKK" and the roof. Later that night, the concrete walls themselves would be sawn apart by diamond wire in several places, as can be seen in photographs taken immediately after the collapse. It was because of these cuts that the next day not only the roof of the SKK collapsed, as envisaged by the original project, but the entire building and the death of welder Kucherov.

Well, the cause of these tragic events was the monstrous greed of Zabiran and his “master” Lavlentsev. The fact is that the cost of the initial concession for the reconstruction of SKK was only 25 billion rubles. But after the collapse of the structure, it actually had to be rebuilt - the construction price rose to a record 60 billion rubles for the country. Huge shadow fortunes were made here not only from kickbacks from contractors, but also from the disposal of hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of construction waste, which were secretly transported to city wastelands, and from the secret sale of many tons of metal, which was carried out for Zabiran's team by a Smolny courtier named Apet. We will tell you later how and to whom billions of black rubles, paid for with one human life, went, as well as how all the participants in these events are connected to each other.
https://t.me/De1taNews/7421

https://t.me/vchkogpu/47751



Source VChK-OGPU:

“Last year, in the May days, the former commander of the early warning system division Vyacheslav Lobuzko, who was responsible in the structures of AFK Sistema for the construction of the Voronezh stations and the National Control Center of the Ministry of Defense (Shoigu’s main and favorite brainchild), was arrested for giving a bribe. And he During the search, entries in notebooks with schemes for kickbacks to the senior leadership of the Moscow Region were seized. Based on these entries, work was carried out against people close to Shoigu.

https://t.me/vchkogpu/47756

Last night:

1/5\uD83E\uDDF5Shahed Attacks: Night of 22-23APR2024

A total of 16 Shahed type UAVs were launched from Cape Chauda and Kursk Oblast.
A total of 15 were claimed destroyed:
7 in Odsea
4 in Mykolaiv
2 in Cherkasy pic.twitter.com/ha9eU3tlIW

Shahed Tracker  (@ShahedTracker) April 24, 2024

2/5: Approximate Movement
Odesa Oblast
UAVs reached Odesa from East and West from the Black Sea.

Debris from a downed UAV caused damage to a two-story residential building, commercial facilities and other infrastructure facilities were damaged. pic.twitter.com/smKrgkm94e

Shahed Tracker  (@ShahedTracker) April 24, 2024

3/5: Mykolaiv Oblast
UAVs reached Ochakiv from the South from the Black Sea.

Debris from a downed UAV damaged a shopping pavilion, private house and farm building. pic.twitter.com/llcVAG9RUp

Shahed Tracker  (@ShahedTracker) April 24, 2024

4/5: Kyiv Oblast
UAVs reached Kyiv Oblast and maneuvered through the Bila Tserkva, Boryspil and Obukhiv districts.

UAVs traveled from Sumy > Poltava > Cherkasy > Kyiv pic.twitter.com/YLAW9nuSJE

Shahed Tracker  (@ShahedTracker) April 24, 2024

5/5: Overview pic.twitter.com/JxBQfuZ3xy

Shahed Tracker  (@ShahedTracker) April 24, 2024

???????. ?????. ???? 790. ?????????????
Briefly. War. Day 790. Video digest#stoprussia #???????? pic.twitter.com/eAFTuApuyT

— ??????????? ???? ??? (@GeneralStaffUA) April 23, 2024

Israeli fighter jets struck sites in northern Gaza's Beit Lahiya, from which six rockets were launched at the southern city of Sderot and the community of Zikim this morning, the military says.

The IDF says the sites included tunnel shafts, a rocket launcher primed for an attack, and additional infrastructure.

https://t.me/manniefabian/44473
Twitter video



A rocket launcher in southern Lebanon's Tayr Harfa was struck by the Israeli Air Force shortly after it was used in an attack on the northern community of Shomera last night, the IDF says.

Another building in the area where the IDF says Hezbollah operatives were gathered was also hit.

Overnight, IAF fighter jets carried out a wave of strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, following repeated attacks by the terror group on northern Israel.

The IDF says the targets included infrastructure in Markaba, a building in Ayta ash-Shab, and an observation post in Marwahin.

Troops also shelled areas near Chihine and Kfarchouba with artillery to "remove threats," the military adds.

https://t.me/manniefabian/44477
Twitter video

Good concept for a thread Prime, but you made the rules so complicated, you’re gonna be carrying it for sure.  


China is really only in it for themselves.   They’ve played it really smart.  Cheap gasoline, America distracted, and they get to collect data on everyone.   They aren’t really allied with Russia, because they could have handed Putin victory, just by selling Drone parts exclusively to him.  

China wants to keep the war going as long as possible, for obvious reasons.   They’re sneaky and inscrutable, but they ain’t stupid.

🍻

Agreed.

😬

Video of an FPV strike on a Russian Desertcross ATV by Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade. I cropped the end of the video which shows an FPV strike on one of the soldiers. 17/https://t.co/ev9TrmLc2X pic.twitter.com/OR1J4uLiun

Rob Lee  (@RALee85) April 24, 2024

\uD83D\uDD25\uD83D\uDD25\uD83D\uDD25

\uD83D\uDD25| TWO \uD83C\uDDF7\uD83C\uDDFARussian TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems were stuck by \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6Ukrainian «Tivaz» Artillery Group with M142 «Himars» MLRS

??| I would like to point out that the number of Himars strikes on Russian air defence systems and command posts has indeed increased. pic.twitter.com/lFEZXiCWmX

— Cloooud |\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@GloOouD) April 24, 2024

Where the F have I been? They basically have a 50kg warhead bomb that can fly 1500 miles at Cessna speeds. Fascinating.

I bet the shit we have blows the doors off of that.

It is a fascinating conflict.

Sometimes it basically is a Cessna

Attack on Shahed factory in Tatarstan proves Ukraine’s ability to reach deep into Russia - British intel https://t.co/aln0yMZGn5

— Hiking Fellina - \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDF8\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83C\uDDE8\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83C\uDDEC\uD83C\uDDE7 (@StKytti) April 16, 2024

N. Korea’s Kim Oversees Drill Simulating ‘Nuclear Counterattack’: KCNA
APRIL 23, 2024


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a drill simulating a “nuclear counterattack,” state-run KCNA news agency said Tuesday, the latest in a volley of tests by Pyongyang this year.

The drill took place on Monday, according to the report. Seoul’s military had earlier announced that the North had fired several short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, with Tokyo confirming the launch.

The drill involved “super-large multiple rocket units” which “hit their island target” some 352 kilometers (219 miles) away, the report said.

It added that Kim “appreciated the high hit and accuracy” of the rockets.

South Korea’s military said Monday that the missiles flew from the Pyongyang area for about 300 kilometers before splashing down in the waters east of the Korean peninsula.

The launch is the second in less than a week by Pyongyang, which on Friday tested a “super-large warhead” designed for a strategic cruise missile, state media said. Seoul’s military confirmed it had detected cruise missile launches at the time.

The launch comes after Pyongyang’s ally Moscow in March used its United Nations Security Council veto to effectively end UN monitoring of sanctions violations on Kim’s government for its nuclear and weapons program.

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2024/04/23/north-korea-nuclear-counterattack/

Ukrainian munitions hit a pair of closely-spaced TOR SAMs.  Clean kills!  Speculating it was GLSDBs, because they partly edited the explosions and they don’t look like GMLRS hits to me.

Concealed Russian BTR with a load of infantry on top hit by what looks like an Excalibur 155m.  Heavy casualties.

Assaulting Russian BMP-1 (or 3?) runs over a pair of mines and blows up.  Survivors dismount, one completely on fire.  Highly NSFW.

UA drone drops hit Russian motorcyclists and infantry.

UA kamikaze hits a Russian in the junk.  Results unknown.

Series of night drone drops on Russian positions and infantry.  Brutal.  NSFW.

Russian 203mm mortar 2s4 destroyed by what looks like a guided arty shell.

Russian MTLB (?) runs over a triple stack of mines and gets disassembled into very, very small pieces.  Also a BTR hits a mine, plus a kamikaze hit on tank with unknown results.

Cleanup of Russian infantry on a road by drone drops.  Possibly also VOG and small arms.  NSFW.

Russian Grad eats a GMLRS

Russian POV, a burning 2s5 SPAG explodes spectacularly while a bunch of Russians suddenly decide they were not far enough away.

Finnish volunteer wounded by mortar fire.

Kamikaze hit on two Russians chilling.  Results unknown.

Russian 152mm SPAG eats a GMLRS

UA SU-25 shooting Zunis

Two-part video.  EXTREMELY NSFW.  First part drone drops wipe out several Russian assault squads in the same area.  Second part, UA marksman smokes 6-8 Russian infantrymen one after the other.  Probably with drone cueing.

Series of kamikaze hits on Russian infantry by Azov drone unit.  No spotter

UA kamikazes take out a Russian sniper/spotter team.

EXTREMELY NSFW.  Drone drop hits and sets fire to a Russian.

EXTREMELY NSFW.  Brutal kamikaze hits on two Russians.

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Some call them "The Axis of Evil". I prefer to think of them as The Axis of Shitheads. However, either is fitting and acceptable.

Are we allowed to talk about the political realities that forced China and Russia to be a bee's dick away from a joint security agreement? Because it is kind of important.

Where I sit in the world, having Putin and Xi on one side, with Nth Korea as a missile testing ground, is kind of a big fuck up...

Yes state department, I am fucking looking at you.

We all make mistakes, but we don't all make geopolitical fuck ups that force our enemies into an axis type of agreement coupled with drone technology that has cost/capabilities that the West can't seriously compete with.

Am I allowed to complain with facts?

Absolutely.

Poor, noble Russia.

Rybar Live: Special military operation, April 23
Mikhail Zvinchuk, head of the Russian think tank Rybar: «They're hitting transformers, cutting off substations and nuclear power plants. Something that we should be doing as well. But we are not doing it for certain political… pic.twitter.com/f2SXr6LgbH

— Rybar Force (@rybar_force) April 24, 2024

1\ #Ucraina Donetsk Front: Russians take Novobakhmutivka and advance to Ocheretyne, where the situation is now compromised. This involves probable withdrawal (most likely already underway), from villages south of Ocheretyne, which is an important high point. Probable shift of the Ukrainian defensive line towards the water basins

1\#Ucraina Fronte di Donetsk: Russi prendono Novobakhmutivka ed avanzano ad Ocheretyne, dove la situazione è ormai compromessa. Questo comporta probabile ritiro (molto probabilmente già in essere), dai villaggi a sud di Ocheretyne, che è un importante punto sopraelevato.… pic.twitter.com/H5KYfErjVC

Majakovsk  (@Majakovsk73) April 23, 2024

2\#Ukraine Donetsk Front: As a consequence of the above, Russians also advance in Berdychy and Semenivka

2\#Ucraina Fronte di Donetsk: Come conseguenza di quanto sopra, russi avanzano anche a Berdychy e Semenivka pic.twitter.com/KclYY2oJki

Majakovsk  (@Majakovsk73) April 23, 2024

3\#Ukraine Donetsk Front: Russian advance also in the Novakalynove sector in the northern area

3\#Ucraina Fronte di Donetsk: Avanzata russa anche nel settore di Novakalynove nell'area nord pic.twitter.com/hEd9Ein51Y

Majakovsk  (@Majakovsk73) April 23, 2024

4\#Ukraine Donetsk Front: total view of the front north-west of Avdiivka

4\#Ucraina Fronte di Donetsk: visione totale del fronte a Nord-Ovest di Avdiivka pic.twitter.com/8TWO1Dp0zY

Majakovsk  (@Majakovsk73) April 23, 2024

5\#Ukraine Donetsk Front: advance to be recorded also in the Heorivkha area

5\#Ucraina Fronte di Donetsk: avanzata da registrare anche nell'area di heorivkha pic.twitter.com/yS4LWicPtB

Majakovsk  (@Majakovsk73) April 23, 2024

The updated map shows further Russian gains into Ocheretyne and Semenivka, the capture of Novobakhmutivka, and advances towards Heorhiivka and northeast of Novokalynove. https://t.co/r6RMNRiUQ6 https://t.co/kpNZMs3peJ pic.twitter.com/WQ89D6RYPW

Rob Lee  (@RALee85) April 23, 2024

Statement issued by the Islamic Resistance:

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
“Permission is given to those who fight because they have been wronged, and indeed, God is Able to grant them victory.”
Believe God Almighty

In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their brave and honorable resistance, and as part of the response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the steadfast southern villages and civilian homes, specifically the horrific massacre in Hanin and the fall of martyrs and wounded civilians, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted On Wednesday 04/24/2024, the Shomera colony, the occupied Lebanese town of Tarbikha, with dozens of Katyusha rockets.

“And victory is only from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise.”
Wednesday 04-24-2024 AD
15 Shawwal 1445 AH

https://t.me/C_Military1/49267

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, drones have shaped the fighting. But so far, ground robots have featured little in the conflict. Is that about to change? https://t.co/3oPdEl47B7

Image: Reuters pic.twitter.com/Ig25qVOese

The Economist  (@TheEconomist) April 24, 2024

https://twitter.com/UKRINFORM/status/1783021619377521120

Dnipropetrovsk Governor

At night, the attacks on Nikopol region continued. The enemy used various types of kamikaze drones and heavy artillery.

He visited the district center, Myrivska and Marganetska communities.

The enterprise and agricultural firm were damaged. And also - power lines. Part of the subscribers remained without electricity.

People were not injured.

▪️According to the updated information, due to the evening attacks by FPV drones in the area, another private house and an economic building were mutilated.

‼️Air alarm in the region. Do not neglect.

https://t.me/dnipropetrovskaODA/12363

Russian in a trench position gets vaporized by what looks like a direct 120mm mortar hit.  NSFW!

Kamikazes absolutely fuck up several Russians hiding in a demolished house.  NSFW?

EXTREEEEEMELY NSFW.  First kamikaze amputates both legs of one Russian.  Second Kamikaze chases the other Russian around a tree, who then hits it with a stick.  BLAMMO.

Russian tries and fails to shoot down a kamikaze, then pays the price.

Series of kamikaze strikes on Russian infantry and vehicles.  One particularly awesome one is what looks like a snippet of a failed Russian armored attack with dismounts fleeing a disabled MTLB.

EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMELY NSFW.  Kamikaze direct hits one Russian and sets him afire.  Second kamikaze hits a Russian and blows him in half at the waist.  Fair warning, you may not want to look at this one.

EXTREEEEEEEMELY NSFW.  Brutal drone hits.  Also includes more of a video where a Russian commits suicide by slashing his own throat then jamming the knife in.  FAIR WARNING.

NSFW.  Drone drop wounds a Russian who most likely dies within minutes.

Series of day and night UA kamikaze hits on Russian armored vehicles

Series of kamikazes flush Russians out of a culvert, two are then hit and set on fire.  NSFW.

UA Kamikazes hit and likely kill several Russians hiding under knocked-out APC after failed assault.

Series of UA kamikaze hits on Russian transport.

UA kamikaze pilot takes out Russian loaf and gets style points doing it.

Magyar series of attacks with fixed-wing horizontal drone bombers

Sharp flying takes out a Russian thermal surveillance cam

Kamikaze direct hits lone Russian.  NSFW.

Series of thermal drone drops.  Last one is interesting, not sure what exactly is going on.  Perhaps the Russians there had NV and an IR laser?

Dive bomber quad lays a charge into a Russian trench, results unknown.

Abandoned Russian tank burned out by Kamikaze

Two Russians in a crater, one gets a kamikaze in the chops

Russian makes the mistake of trolling someone who can fly 4KG of HE through his window from 10KM away.

Please forward to Magyar for ideas

Russian dugout gets a barrage of grenades

Kamikaze direct-hits a lone Russian.  NSFW?

Series of kamikaze hits on Russian towed arty.  Guessing fairly deep strikes with repeaters.

Series of kamikaze hits on Russian infantry, transport, and armored vehicles.  No spotters.

Thermal drop on a lone Russian

Kamikaze hits on two Russian vehicles

Series of drops and kamikaze hits on Russian infantry.  Some pretty brutal.  NSFW.

Day and night drone attacks, with what looks like a very brief glimpse of Baba Yaga ops.

Kamikaze burns out an abandoned Russian APC

Kamikazes hit two loafs

MTLB hit and burned out by UA kamikaze

Series of night drops on Russian infantry.  One catches fire.  NSFW.

Kamikaze hits lone Russian

UA low-light kamikaze burns out Russian BMP

Latest batch of U.K. military aid to #Ukraine will include Paveway IV bombs .

Jonathan Beale  (@bealejonathan) April 24, 2024

??The UK willy supply Ukraine with Paveway IV laser-guided bombs with a 230kg mass, as part of their latest military aid package, BBC correspondent Jonathan Beale reports. pic.twitter.com/9kvmxyjHri

— NOELREPORTS \uD83C\uDDEA\uD83C\uDDFA \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@NOELreports) April 24, 2024

Why do I suddenly want to see a mini bridge-laying drone?

Start with Roosevelt and Truman.  Then Kissinger.  Then the Congressional MFN vote in the 80s.

If anyone’s interested, the second part of the “additional footage” video is a HAWK launch and (possibly) kill.

Tagged and IN.

Looking forward to keeping up with events and seeing you guys around in here.

https://thediplomat.com/2024/03/nuclear-proliferation-surfaces-again-as-india-intercepts-pakistan-bound-dual-use-items/

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Same here, glad to see some old faces actively posting info for everyone to take a look at and discuss.

\uD83C\uDDEB\uD83C\uDDF7"France, in the new aid package, will transfer Aster-30 missiles to SAMP-T air defense systems to Ukraine, which, like the Patriot, is capable of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles, in particular the Kh-47M2 Dagger," said the French Ministry of Defense. pic.twitter.com/yD6CQr2BXD

PS01  (@PStyle0ne1) April 24, 2024

North Korea also belongs here...

For the second day we continue our joint attack so that the stupid Russophobe Sanda understands what violating the rights of citizens can cost🤬

❌Official page of Moldova (dead by ping)
check-host.net/check-report/18762d5fkfc8

❌Multimedia portal of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova (closed by geo)
check-host.net/check-report/187631bckd97

❌Government of the Republic of Moldova
check-host.net/check-report/187633d1k507

❌Information Technology and Cybersecurity Service of Moldova
check-host.net/check-report/187637abk366

❌Website of the President of Moldova (dead by ping)
check-host.net/check-report/18763a74kfbc

❌Public services of Moldova (closed by geo)
check-host.net/check-report/18763e7ek588

❌Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova (dead by ping)
check-host.net/check-report/18764074k6ed

❌Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova (closed by geo)
check-host.net/check-report/187643eck348

https://t.me/noname05716/6459

As expected and pointed out yesterday, Olaf Scholz just said during a visit of the British PM Rishi Sunak that his decision to not deliver Taurus KEPD-350 cruise missiles to #Ukraine will not change due to the new US package which (likely) contains new ATACMS cruise missiles. https://t.co/XWCVesNQrQ pic.twitter.com/lVq0ANZINS

— German Aid to Ukraine \uD83C\uDDE9\uD83C\uDDEA\uD83E\uDD1D\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@deaidua) April 24, 2024

Good idea but please edit the title to include the North Korea. They are essential in the Ukrainian war, providing ammo to Kremlin. Possibly more.

https://www.state.gov/u-s-imposes-sanctions-on-suppliers-to-pakistans-ballistic-missile-program/

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Well, it wasn't a decoy like the Russians hoped, and it had Cap'n Crunch with tungstenberries.

That Radar is swiss cheese by looking at the density of tungsten pellets into the cab of that vehicle.

Slightly damaged, due to inaccurate  HIMARS strike, Russian 96L6E all-altitude detection radar of the S-300 air defence system. As the source says:

“The damage is a result of a HIMARS MLRS strike, two missiles were used.

It is worth noting that the strike occurred immediately… pic.twitter.com/m6XMafLEA9

— Special Kherson Cat \uD83D\uDC08\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@bayraktar_1love) April 24, 2024

There are signs of larger shrapnel damage on the radar.

Perfectly relevant because of North Korea supplying weapons to Russia for the Ukraine war.

and in the Mideast https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-782496

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https://english.alarabiya.net/amp/News/middle-east/2021/08/15/N-Korea-Iran-supported-in-building-Hezbollah-s-45-kilometer-tunnel-Report


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we have seen this before -- not new

but this is a good primer on some of the cooperation that has occurred and is on-going between these countries

Appears our foreign policy of BS wars has been a total failure and we’re no longer the world’s super power.

Stevie Wonder saw this coming.

Slightly off topic but all of them did the same in Sudan

https://www.stripes.com/branches/marine_corps/2023-05-22/sudan-evacuation-marines-embassy-medals-10201820.html

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Good thread topic. Place holder for more to come.

Why do we need a new Ukraine propaganda thread?  What was wrong with the old one?

Oh, and this is the current reality of the Ukraine War:

US general says Russian army has grown by 15 percent since pre-Ukraine war

Russia to grow faster than all advanced economies says IMF

Exclusive: Russia producing three times more artillery shells than US and Europe for Ukraine

Russia's April oil and gas revenue to double, Reuters calculations show

Putin is bombing Ukraine into darkness   and leaving Europe short of power

Russian forces make significant gains in eastern Ukraine

The possibility of Ukraine's army collapsing cannot be ruled out a US official has warned, report says

Our soldiers managed to capture russian thermal kamikaze drone and shared some pictures with us for it's analysis.

The drone is named Boomerang which is russian state produced serial FPV.

It features a frame from Textolite, Caddx Thermal Imaging Camera 384x288 or 640x512 is… pic.twitter.com/O5G9P3CBhW

— FPV Drones \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@FPVDronesUa) April 24, 2024