Ukraine Notes
It hasn't been a slow news week, more like a week slow in the news that I wanted to write about. Just not enough for two postings, plus I needed to expand on some of the items.
More on the Moskva, more anti-air missile tanks, balloons, sheer stupidity, and other stuff
More Moskva news. The Russian Defense Ministry has finally admitted casualties, but not that Ukraine sank the ship. The RIA press agency quoted the Ministry’s press release: “During the struggle to stabilize the ship, one serviceman died and another 27 crew members went missing. The remaining 396 members of the crew were evacuated.” When a warship is on fire, especially an ammo magazine fire, it is crazy dangerous. And after being hit by two anti-ship missiles, ratchet that up a few notches. One dead? Color me dubious.
Germany is supplying about 50 anti-missile tanks to Ukraine. I imagine these are similar to the British units.
Interesting article from Forbes to bring back an extremely dumb weapon from a century ago: the barrage balloon. These balloons force attacking aircraft to fly above the balloons, making their attack runs much less accurate, thus less damaging, and easier to shoot at with anti-air missiles! Based on interviews with German pilots who attacked London when barrage balloons were used, they are a very unnerving defense and quite effective. They're inexpensive and easy to deploy, even though they are a static defense for a city or whatever it is you're setting up to defend. It could also be useful to set up as a decoy: pick a formerly useful site that had been bombed to the point that it no longer has value to you, set up a good density of barrage balloons around it, and let the orcs have fun with it thinking that you've reactivated a valuable facility there!
This, I think, is possibly the best news of the week. Putin announced “the foiling of a CIA and Ukrainian intelligence plot” to murder a Moscow journalist who is a friend of and shill for Putin. In the initial video of the apartment that was raided was a neo-nazi book that was inscribed to the would-be assassins by the author, Signature Unclear. The video has since been blurred out but not before unaltered copies were downloaded. Seems that someone over at the FSB took their instructions on how to manufacture evidence a little too literally.
I had not heard about this until this previous weekend, but several oligarchs have been brutally murdered. I'm sorry, that's not accurate. Several oligarchs have brutally murdered their families then committed suicide in curious ways, according to the investigating police departments. Most recently there have been two oligarchs and their families killed, bringing the totals to four or ten, I am not sure which is the more accurate number. It is clearly an FSB hit ordered by Putin, the question is the motives. In some cases there have been surviving members who have been away and out of the country when the assassination took place. Most recently two murders happened within 24 hours of each other. This Newsweek article lists all oligarchs who have died since the invasion of Ukraine. You will note the common theme of them being involved in oil or banking. My question is whether Putin is able to seize their assets after their death to control them or take them for himself.
https://www.newsweek.com/every-russian-oligarch-who-has-died-since-putin-invaded-ukraine-full-list-1700022
Donetsk is one of the "separatist" regions that was recognized by Putin as an independent republic before the invasion as a pretense for said invasion. After the troops rolled in and the area taken over, they instituted a draft and started snatching men off the street. The only ones exempted were certain government employees, an anesthesiologist, and a farmer or two. All other men up to age 55 were potentially draftable unless you had a very solid medical exemption. They've now upped the age to 65. Older men are now not just hiding, but hiding in houses where there were no men on the census, never going out except well after dark. Looks like Putin is definitely having manpower problems for his army.
More on the Moskva, more anti-air missile tanks, balloons, sheer stupidity, and other stuff
More Moskva news. The Russian Defense Ministry has finally admitted casualties, but not that Ukraine sank the ship. The RIA press agency quoted the Ministry’s press release: “During the struggle to stabilize the ship, one serviceman died and another 27 crew members went missing. The remaining 396 members of the crew were evacuated.” When a warship is on fire, especially an ammo magazine fire, it is crazy dangerous. And after being hit by two anti-ship missiles, ratchet that up a few notches. One dead? Color me dubious.
Germany is supplying about 50 anti-missile tanks to Ukraine. I imagine these are similar to the British units.
Interesting article from Forbes to bring back an extremely dumb weapon from a century ago: the barrage balloon. These balloons force attacking aircraft to fly above the balloons, making their attack runs much less accurate, thus less damaging, and easier to shoot at with anti-air missiles! Based on interviews with German pilots who attacked London when barrage balloons were used, they are a very unnerving defense and quite effective. They're inexpensive and easy to deploy, even though they are a static defense for a city or whatever it is you're setting up to defend. It could also be useful to set up as a decoy: pick a formerly useful site that had been bombed to the point that it no longer has value to you, set up a good density of barrage balloons around it, and let the orcs have fun with it thinking that you've reactivated a valuable facility there!
This, I think, is possibly the best news of the week. Putin announced “the foiling of a CIA and Ukrainian intelligence plot” to murder a Moscow journalist who is a friend of and shill for Putin. In the initial video of the apartment that was raided was a neo-nazi book that was inscribed to the would-be assassins by the author, Signature Unclear. The video has since been blurred out but not before unaltered copies were downloaded. Seems that someone over at the FSB took their instructions on how to manufacture evidence a little too literally.
I had not heard about this until this previous weekend, but several oligarchs have been brutally murdered. I'm sorry, that's not accurate. Several oligarchs have brutally murdered their families then committed suicide in curious ways, according to the investigating police departments. Most recently there have been two oligarchs and their families killed, bringing the totals to four or ten, I am not sure which is the more accurate number. It is clearly an FSB hit ordered by Putin, the question is the motives. In some cases there have been surviving members who have been away and out of the country when the assassination took place. Most recently two murders happened within 24 hours of each other. This Newsweek article lists all oligarchs who have died since the invasion of Ukraine. You will note the common theme of them being involved in oil or banking. My question is whether Putin is able to seize their assets after their death to control them or take them for himself.
https://www.newsweek.com/every-russian-oligarch-who-has-died-since-putin-invaded-ukraine-full-list-1700022
Donetsk is one of the "separatist" regions that was recognized by Putin as an independent republic before the invasion as a pretense for said invasion. After the troops rolled in and the area taken over, they instituted a draft and started snatching men off the street. The only ones exempted were certain government employees, an anesthesiologist, and a farmer or two. All other men up to age 55 were potentially draftable unless you had a very solid medical exemption. They've now upped the age to 65. Older men are now not just hiding, but hiding in houses where there were no men on the census, never going out except well after dark. Looks like Putin is definitely having manpower problems for his army.