There are reports that Ukraine has carried out its first strikes with F-16s.
There is no confirmation of this yet, so take it with a grain of salt. Also still unconfirmed is the Ukrainian strike on Russia’s big-ticket S-500 air-defense system in Crimea.
Destroying Russia’s air defense capabilities remains a priority for Ukraine.
Russia has lost nearly its entire 83rd Airborne Brigade at Vovchansk.
According to a well-regarded Ukrainian correspondent who writes under the pseudonym “Nikolaev Vanek,” the 83rd Airborne Brigade has retreated from Vovchansk after a costly three-week deployment.
“The entire 83rd Airborne Brigade is urgently withdrawn to the rear to restore combat capability,” Vanek wrote. “There are too many casualties, they can't fight, there are too many 500s.”
In Russian military parlance, a “code 500” is a soldier who refuses to fight.
If confirmed, it’s a stinging loss for the new Russian northern grouping of forces, which includes around seven regiments and brigades. And Russian losses in Vovchansk could get a lot worse, as the survivors of an entire battalion—that’s hundreds of troops—have been trapped in a chemical plant in central Vovchansk for two weeks.
A Russian deputy defense minister is quite a catch for French intelligence. Since Tatyana Shevtsova is sanctioned in the West we can only assume she is spilling her guts in exchange for asylum. They have to be shitting their collective pants at the Kremlin.
She was dismissed about two weeks ago and was rumored to be neck deep in corruption. I guess she decided to take her chances in the West rather than end up on a sidewalk after an accidental fall from a window.
This is an additional 42 officers confirmed killed in the last week. They weren’t all killed in the last week. That’s just when they were confirmed.
Bavovna!
Russian soldiers play hide and seek with a drone in the ruins of a building.
WARNING: Video shows dying Russian at the end.
If I were Mr. Zaklyazminsky, I’d be in hiding.
Can’t make enough of these. The missiles for the Patriot system are made by Lockheed Martin.
A Russian prisoner describes what a joy it is serving in the second best army in Ukraine.
Among the prisoners recently freed are a leading Crimean Tatar politician and an art researcher.
This seems pretty damn stupid to me. Seems like the army could use a resourceful guy like this.
Swallows and cats living together.
Smile. It’s the weekend.