https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-starliner-unable-fly-without-crew

So it’s stuck… attached to the Space Station.

According to Ars’ sources, Starliner’s current flight software isn’t able to autonomously undock from the space station and reenter through the Earth’s atmosphere — if confirmed, a confounding new ripple for what has already turned out to be a disastrous crewed flight test for Boeing and NASA.

https://the-riotact.com/save-the-csiro-staff-appeal-to-minister-to-step-in-and-stop-hundreds-of-job-cuts/795679

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13713889/mother-teen-killed-machete-attack-killers-released.html

August 9th. Key updates:

▪️ Since the beginning of the fighting in the Kursk direction, Kiev has lost up to 945 soldiers and 102 units of armored vehicles, including 12 tanks — MoD.

▪️ A Russian Su-34 bomber struck a concentration of Ukrainian troops and equipment in the Sumy Oblast near the border with Kursk using a FAB-3000 bomb.

▪️ Over the past week, Russian forces conducted 19 group strikes using precision weapons and attack drones, targeting Ukrainian defense industry facilities and related energy infrastructure.

▪️ Kiev reportedly lost up to 12,980 military personnel, 26 tanks (including 2 Leopards), 132 armored vehicles, 188 field artillery pieces, 5 fighter jets, and 3 Vampire MLRS combat vehicles during the week.

▪️ Fifty-five Ukrainian soldiers surrendered along the frontline over the past week.

▪️ Ukrainian forces attempted to land on the Kinburn Spit using speedboats under the cover of 2 fire support boats, but 12 fighters and 2 boats were destroyed.

▪️ CNN reported a split within the command under Ukrainian general Aleksandr Syrskyi, with subordinates expressing doubts about his ability to conduct prolonged combat operations.

wookiemeister said:

▪️ Ukrainian forces attempted to land on the Kinburn Spit using speedboats under the cover of 2 fire support boats, but 12 fighters and 2 boats were destroyed.

I have seen the drone and helmet cam footage of them arriving, wading to shore, doing military stuff, then leaving again unopposed.

I guess we are talking about different operations.

Dark Orange said:

wookiemeister said:

▪️ Ukrainian forces attempted to land on the Kinburn Spit using speedboats under the cover of 2 fire support boats, but 12 fighters and 2 boats were destroyed.

I have seen the drone and helmet cam footage of them arriving, wading to shore, doing military stuff, then leaving again unopposed.

I guess we are talking about different operations.

But, the report wookie quoted never said that they were Ukrainian fighters, or Ukrainian boats.

August 12th . Special military operation progress, stay tuned for tomorrow:

▪️Putin held a meeting on border regions, he said that Kiev with its actions in Kursk region is trying to improve negotiating positions, but negotiations with those who indiscriminately attack peaceful people is impossible.

▪️The deputy governor of the Kursk region reported that the situation in the region is difficult, 28 settlements are under the control of the enemy, and the leadership of the region does not know the fate of 2,000 people from there.

▪️On the orders of the Defence Ministry, 90 platoon support points are being built in the Kursk region, and 40 kilometres of anti-tank trenches have already been dug, Smirnov added.

▪️Belgorod Oblast Governor Gladkov said the situation in the border districts had deteriorated sharply, with the worst situation in the Shebekinsky district.

▪️In just 2.5 years, more than 30,000 houses and apartments in the Belgorod region have been hit by AFU shelling, Gladkov reported.

▪️Bryansk region is subjected to 80-100 shelling attacks per week, shelling of civilians has become more frequent, the governor said.

▪️Defence Ministry: Kiev’s losses in the special operation zone amounted to some 1,735 servicemen, Kiev lost two tanks, including an M1A1 Abrams, and two Bradley IFVs.

▪️Russian troops have accelerated their offensive in the Donetsk region, taking the initiative and breaking through enemy defences.

▪️Russian units liberate Lisichnoye in Donetsk People’s Republic

▪️First Deputy Director General of Rostec Artyakov said that there is no “know-how” in the trophy Western equipment obtained during the special military operation and studied by Russian specialists.

▪️The Abrams and Leopard tanks do not have guided weapons and their maintainability is worse than that of Russian tanks, Artyakov said.

▪️According to Artyakov, the British withdrew Challenger tanks from Ukraine after being disappointed with the quality of their armoured vehicles after the first battles.

▪️As a result of two direct strikes by AFU attack drones, one of the cooling towers at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was seriously damaged, Rosatom said.

▪️The press service of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant assured that the fire had no effect on the plant’s operation.

▪️Russia’s acting ambassador to international organisations in Vienna, Roman Ustinov, said Russia would discuss new Ukrainian attacks on the plant in Vienna.

wookiemeister said:

August 12th . Special military operation progress, stay tuned for tomorrow:

▪️Putin held a meeting on border regions, he said that Kiev with its actions in Kursk region is trying to improve negotiating positions, but negotiations with those who indiscriminately attack peaceful people is impossible.

Enough said.

wookiemeister said:

▪️First Deputy Director General of Rostec Artyakov said that there is no “know-how” in the trophy Western equipment obtained during the special military operation and studied by Russian specialists.

Not even any little suggestions on, say, ammunition stowage? You know, so your tanks don’t cook off like Roman candles if they get hit with anything bigger than a rifle bullet.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13737417/accountants-mental-health-anthony-albanese-stephen-jones.html

wookiemeister said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13737417/accountants-mental-health-anthony-albanese-stephen-jones.html

Professor McGorry ‘supports clarification in the Determination that tax agents should not be required to disclose their mental health history or status’.

A Determination is a legal instrument used to change the law.

Stephen Jones, the Assistant Treasurer and a factional ally of Anthony Albanese, is pressing ahead with the change, which is before the Senate.

It would require tax practitioners to disclose ‘any’ matter that might influence a client to engage their services.

This could include someone’s mental health history, perhaps even their religion or sexual orientation, needing to be disclosed to clients.

I fail see exactly why an accountant would need to outline personal details about themselves.

August 13th. Key updates:

▪️ Ukrainian forces have reportedly lost up to 1,835 personnel in the past day, according to a Russian Ministry of Defense update.

▪️ Russian airstrikes destroyed a Ukrainian Su-27 aircraft at an airfield, along with three S-300PT launchers and a radar system. Additionally, a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by air defense systems.

▪️ Dissatisfaction with Zelensky is reportedly growing within the American elite, with Arsen Avakov being considered as a potential replacement, according to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

▪️ The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 420 personnel and 55 armored vehicles in the Kursk Oblast within the past day, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

▪️ Authorities in Lgov (Kursk Oblast) have denied false reports that Ukrainian forces have reached the city and are 15 kilometers from the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

▪️ Dmitry Medvedev stated that Ukrainian leadership will face deserved punishment for the terrorist attack in the Kursk Oblast.

▪️ The Supreme Court of Russia is proposing to exempt defendants from criminal liability if they sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense or are mobilized.

August 14th. Key updates:

▪️ Ministry of Defense: The Russian Armed Forces continue to repel attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) to invade the territory of the Russian Federation in the Kursk Oblast, preventing breakthroughs into Russian territory and repelling six attacks.

▪️ Russian Air Force carried out strikes on AFU reserves in areas of the Sumy Oblast.

▪️ 18 Ukrainian soldiers were captured during battles in the Kursk Oblast.

▪️ AFU losses on the Kursk front over the past day include up to 270 servicemen, 2 tanks, a Stryker armored personnel carrier, and 13 armored fighting vehicles, with total losses during the fighting reaching up to 2,300 servicemen.

▪️ General Ministry of Defense report: Ukrainian losses for the day amounted to up to 1,925 servicemen.

▪️ German media reported that the German prosecutor general issued an arrest warrant for Ukrainian diving instructor Vladimir Zhuravlev, who resides in Poland and is suspected of involvement in the Nord Stream terrorist attack; Poland stated that he has fled to Ukraine.

▪️ UN Human Rights Office requested access to the Kursk Oblast to verify allegations of human rights violations by Ukrainian military personnel, but Moscow deemed this request difficult to fulfill due to safety concerns.

▪️ Ukraine is not planning to deploy F-16 fighters in “risky operations” due to their limited number, according to Forbes.

▪️ Ukrainian Interior Minister Klimenko announced that residents of 183 settlements bordering Russia in the Sumy Oblast are subject to priority evacuation.

August15th. Special military operation progress, stay tuned for tomorrow:

▪️Russian servicemen from the Central Group of the Russian Armed Forces have taken control of the village of Ivanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Ministry of Defence has announced;

▪️The Russian military has regained control of the village of Krupets in the Kursk region; the AFU’s losses in the Kursk direction over the day were up to 340 men and 19 armoured vehicles;

▪️The situation in the Belgorod region was declared a federal emergency, the Emergencies Ministry said;

▪️Air defence forces destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region overnight, the Defence Ministry said. Three other drones were shot down over the region during the day;

▪️A Ukrainian missile was downed over Lgov in the Kursk region, injuring four people, local authorities said;

▪️Four people were injured in Shebekino, Belgorod region, after an attack by AFU drones, Governor Gladkov said;

▪️Martynovka in the Kursk region has been cleared by the AFU, Alaudinov said. He said the AFU did not fully control Sudzha in the Kursk region; Russian units were working there;

▪️Belousov is holding a series of meetings to ensure the security of border regions; Thursday’s meeting discussed a concrete plan for additional security measures in the Belgorod region, the Defence Ministry said;

▪️The CIA demanded that Zelensky rescind his order to sabotage Nord Streams, which he agreed to, but was allegedly disobeyed by Zaluzhny, the Wall Street Journal claimed, citing sources;

▪️Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Zelensky’s office, admitted that Kiev had discussed the attack on the Kursk region with Western partners. According to him, “there were discussions between partners, just not at a public level”.

▪️The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has asked the Russian authorities for access to the Belgorod and Bryansk regions affected by the AFU attacks, an agency spokeswoman said.

August 18th. Key updates:

▪️ Russian forces have liberated Sviridovka in the DPR, the Ministry of Defense reported.

▪️ Ukrainian losses in a single day amounted to up to 1,630 servicemen, according to the Russian ministry.

▪️ Russian aviation and artillery have destroyed US-made MLRS and HIMARS rocket systems.

▪️ The operation to eliminate Ukrainian formations attempting to invade the Kursk region continues; in a single day, Kiev has lost up to 300 servicemen in this direction, reported the Russian Ministry of Defense.

▪️ Two people were killed in Donetsk following shelling by Ukrainian forces, reported the city’s mayor.

▪️ Ukrainian forces struck the Seraphim of Sarov Monastery in Donetsk, reported the DPR.

▪️ The escalation by Ukraine in the Kursk region is an attempt to provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons, stated Lukashenko.

▪️ The President of Belarus added that if Kiev and Moscow do not come to the negotiating table, the escalation will end with the destruction of Ukraine, and negotiations should begin from where they left off in Istanbul.

▪️ The attack by Ukrainian forces on the Kursk region will end with the defeat of Zelensky’s regime and a strategic defeat for the US, which stands behind this act of aggression, stated the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

wookiemeister said:

August 18th. Key updates:

▪️ Russian forces have liberated Sviridovka in the DPR, the Ministry of Defense reported.

▪️ Ukrainian losses in a single day amounted to up to 1,630 servicemen, according to the Russian ministry.

▪️ Russian aviation and artillery have destroyed US-made MLRS and HIMARS rocket systems.

▪️ The operation to eliminate Ukrainian formations attempting to invade the Kursk region continues; in a single day, Kiev has lost up to 300 servicemen in this direction, reported the Russian Ministry of Defense.

▪️ Two people were killed in Donetsk following shelling by Ukrainian forces, reported the city’s mayor.

▪️ Ukrainian forces struck the Seraphim of Sarov Monastery in Donetsk, reported the DPR.

▪️ The escalation by Ukraine in the Kursk region is an attempt to provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons, stated Lukashenko.

▪️ The President of Belarus added that if Kiev and Moscow do not come to the negotiating table, the escalation will end with the destruction of Ukraine, and negotiations should begin from where they left off in Istanbul.

▪️ The attack by Ukrainian forces on the Kursk region will end with the defeat of Zelensky’s regime and a strategic defeat for the US, which stands behind this act of aggression, stated the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This could be the catalyst for the beginning of WW3 – The smackdown Commie Bastards vs the Capitalist Pig Dogs

Cymek said:

wookiemeister said:

August 18th. Key updates:

▪️ Russian forces have liberated Sviridovka in the DPR, the Ministry of Defense reported.

▪️ Ukrainian losses in a single day amounted to up to 1,630 servicemen, according to the Russian ministry.

▪️ Russian aviation and artillery have destroyed US-made MLRS and HIMARS rocket systems.

▪️ The operation to eliminate Ukrainian formations attempting to invade the Kursk region continues; in a single day, Kiev has lost up to 300 servicemen in this direction, reported the Russian Ministry of Defense.

▪️ Two people were killed in Donetsk following shelling by Ukrainian forces, reported the city’s mayor.

▪️ Ukrainian forces struck the Seraphim of Sarov Monastery in Donetsk, reported the DPR.

▪️ The escalation by Ukraine in the Kursk region is an attempt to provoke Russia into using nuclear weapons, stated Lukashenko.

▪️ The President of Belarus added that if Kiev and Moscow do not come to the negotiating table, the escalation will end with the destruction of Ukraine, and negotiations should begin from where they left off in Istanbul.

▪️ The attack by Ukrainian forces on the Kursk region will end with the defeat of Zelensky’s regime and a strategic defeat for the US, which stands behind this act of aggression, stated the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This could be the catalyst for the beginning of WW3 – The smackdown Commie Bastards vs the Capitalist Pig Dogs

Right. Starmer being of the communist block could definitely take on Russia but he’s preoccupied with arresting thousands of people for thoughtcrime. The only thing the british Tommy can look forward to is his mother being thrown into gaol for a few years because she complained about a tranny parading around with his dick hangimg out in a women’s changing room whilst he’s fighting on the eastern front.

Starmlin would be a better moniker

▪️ A Ukrainian UAV was shot down over the Orel region, no damage or casualties, Governor Andrei Klychkov said;

▪️ Russian soldiers hit a gathering place for foreign mercenaries in the suburbs of Kiev, said the coordinator of the Nikolaev underground, Lebedev. He also spoke of an attack on an AFU ammunition depot north of Pavlograd in the Dnepropetrovsk Oblast;

▪️ Two journalists and a photographer from the Washington Post travelled to Sudzha in the Kursk Oblast on Saturday. They were escorted by the AFU, the newspaper said. The journalists spoke to at least a dozen residents of the town, it said;

▪️ The Other Ukraine movement has demanded that Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation and National Anti-Corruption Bureau launch an investigation into Zelensky and other high-ranking officials in the country, former Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk said;

▪️ Russia has formally lodged complaints with Germany over the investigation into the Nord Stream bombing and is seeking talks on the Germans’ fulfilment of their international counter-terrorism obligations, Oleg Tyapkin, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Third European Department, told RIA Novosti.

▪️ If Poland tries to intercept Russian missiles over Ukraine, Moscow will give a concrete and adequate response, Director of the Third European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Oleg Tyapkin told RIA Novosti.

wookiemeister said:

▪️ The Other Ukraine movement has demanded that Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation and National Anti-Corruption Bureau launch an investigation into Zelensky and other high-ranking officials in the country, former Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk said;

Hardly surprising, given that ‘The Other Ukraine’ is a Russian puppet disinformation outfit, managed by a Russian marketing and political consulting firm called Social Design Agency (SDA) founded by Russian political technologist Ilya Gambashidze.

Their main customers are Russian governmental structures that contract a wide variety of services ranging from information support for the Kremlin’s domestic initiatives to Moscow’s political warfare against the West.

Funnily enough, given the Russian line about the Ukrainians being ‘Nazis’, SDA pursues strategies that would align ‘The Other Ukraine’ with far-right political movements in France and Germany

You can read more about ‘The Other Ukraine’ in this article from today’s EUobserver, of which i present here the text, from out behind the paywall:

The truth about The Other Ukraine political party

Ukraine

Opinion
by Anton Shekhovtsov, Vienna, November 7, 2023, 3:17:19 PM

0 co-observers

Back in February 2022, when Moscow launched its full-blown invasion of Ukraine, it hardly expected to become engaged in a prolonged war. The invasion was meant to be exactly what it was officially called: a “special military operation”, a blitzkrieg aiming to quickly destroy the leadership of Ukraine, break the will of the Ukrainian army to resist, and install a pro-Russian occupation regime.

According to the Ukrainian intelligence sources, the Kremlin did not care much about who would head this occupation regime — the main objective was to take over Kyiv as the political hart of Ukraine, all else could be decided on the spot — but Russian authorities did consider two political figures who could lead the Ukrainian puppet state.

One was former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych who had fled to Russia at the end of the Ukrainian revolution of 2014; the other was Ukrainian pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk who at the time of the invasion was under house arrest in Ukraine.
The Russian blitzkrieg failed, Medvedchuk escaped his house arrest but was arrested by the Ukrainian security services, and was handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange in September 2022.

Unlike Yanukovych who was apparently seen as useless by the Russian authorities and did not take part in any major pro-Kremlin information operations after he had fled Ukraine in 2014, Medvedchuk almost immediately joined the Russian political warfare against Ukraine and its Western allies.

Soon after he was transferred to Russia, Medvedchuk announced the creation of a new political movement, The Other Ukraine, that positioned itself as the “party of peace” between Ukraine and Russia, as the voice of subjugated ‘good Ukraine’ that would surrender to Russia’s imperial rule — the real meaning of “peace” promoted by the Kremlin and its henchmen.

Documents seen by this author suggest that Medvedchuk may well be the public face of The Other Ukraine (TOU), but the actual role of the ‘movement’ is not to represent any sort of ‘Ukrainian government-in-exile’, but to function as a front for Russian disinformation offensives targeting Western countries providing support for Ukraine.

The principal mastermind behind the media strategies of The Other Ukraine is a Russian marketing and political consulting firm called Social Design Agency (SDA) founded by Russian political technologist Ilya Gambashidze.

The SDA, together with another company founded by Gambashidze, Structura National Technologies (SNT), was involved in one of the most insidious Russian disinformation international campaigns that was dubbed Operation Doppelganger and consisted in spreading false information using fake websites impersonating government organisations and international media.

The two companies are formally independent businesses, but their main customers are Russian governmental structures that contract a wide variety of services ranging from information support for the Kremlin’s domestic initiatives to Moscow’s political warfare against the West.

The Operation Doppelganger was busted by the EU DisinfoLab, and both SDA and SNT, along with their founder Ilya Gambashidze, were sanctioned by the EU in July 2023. The Meta company took action against Facebook pages spreading disinformation of the SDA and SNT even earlier.

The SDA’s international plan for The Other Ukraine predominantly targets two European countries, Germany and France. Its internal documents analyse public sentiments in the two countries and consider potential support for the major anti-establishment parties there, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, considered by Moscow as its political allies.

Tailored narratives

The SDA specifically looks for data from public opinion polls on “fear of what the future holds” and on “unwillingness to sacrifice wellbeing for the victory over Russia”. On the basis of its analysis of socio-political weaknesses and vulnerabilities of German and French societies, the SDA composes lists of narratives that should be disseminated in the two countries to undermine support for Ukraine.

Some of these narratives are almost identical: for example, “the US is waging an economic and hybrid war against Russia at the expense of Germany/France”; or “Germany/France risk plunging into the deepest socio-political crisis in contemporary history”; or “Germany/France is left without weapons — they were all given to Ukraine”.

But some disinformation narratives are tailored to a specific national context.

For example, the SDA alleges the “flight of capital and production” from Germany to the US. Or it claims that the US and UK use the Green environmental agenda to prevent France from becoming “an energy donor and hegemon of a united Europe”. Or it offers advice to France to “return to Charles de Gaulle’s politics, become a sovereign great state, and leave Nato”.

To disseminate pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian propaganda using the front of “The Other Ukraine”, the SDA relies on a wide range of instruments and techniques adopted from the projects such as now late Yevgeny Prigozhin’s troll factory (officially known as the Internet Research Agency) or Operation Doppelganger.
At the moment, the presence of the SDA’s project The Other Ukraine on internet platforms such as Facebook and X (ex-Twitter) seems to be in the stage of accumulating content and building legitimate profiles.

In its internal memos, the SDA warns that Western social networks are suspicious of political initiatives and highlights the need to develop their influence operations cautiously.

Disclaimer
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio
Anton Shekhovtsov is director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity in Vienna and author of three books: New Radical Rightwing Parties in European Democracies (2011), Russia and the Western Far-Right: Tango Noir (2017), and Russian Political Warfare (due 2023).

There’s no shortage of idiots, if we, cough, get rid of the idiots, we should achieve sustainability.

▪️ Air defence forces destroyed 28 UAVs last night: 13 were shot down over the Volgograd Oblast, seven over the Rostov Oblast, four over the Belgorod Oblast, two over the Voronezh Oblast and one each over the Bryansk and Kursk Oblasts, the Russian defence ministry said.

▪️ A resident of the village of Bolshoye Soldatskoye in the Kursk Oblast told about the war crimes of the AFU: they deliberately hit civilians with drones, for example, they attacked a family and killed the husband and wife on the spot. She also said that AFU saboteurs, disguised in Russian army uniforms, are looting and stealing cars;

▪️ Ukrainian sources report the advance of the RF Armed Forces in the area of Nikolaevka (south of Novogrodovka) in the direction of Pokrovsk;

▪️ According to the New York Times, the American authorities have launched an investigation against their own citizens who cooperate with the Russian media, and are preparing searches and criminal charges.

August 21 st. Key updates:

▪️The Central Group of the Russian Armed Forces has liberated Zhelannoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic;

▪️The AFU lost up to 2,060 servicemen during the day, the ministry added.

▪️During the day the AFU lost up to 300 servicemen and 26 armoured vehicles in the direction of Kursk, over 4.4 thousand people during the whole period of hostilities, the Russian ministry said.

▪️The US PMC Forward Observation Group, which has appeared in the Kursk region, refused to comment on its participation in Ukrainian operations, citing a ban by the Security Service of Ukraine.

▪️The German company Rheinmetall has cancelled a contract to supply artillery shells to Poland, after the South African government blocked the deliveries for fear that the products of the group’s South African subsidiary would end up in Ukraine, the Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported.

August 23rd. Key updates:

▫️ Ministry of Defense Report: Russian forces have liberated Sviridonovka, Artemovo, Novgorodskoye, Zhelannoye, and Mezhevo in the DPR over the past week.

▫️ During the week, 16 group strikes were carried out on airfields, warehouses, workshops, NASAMS air defense system storage hangars, fuel bases, and areas where AFU reserves were concentrated, according to the ministry.

▫️ In the past day, the AFU lost up to 400 servicemen, one tank, two armored personnel carriers, and a multiple rocket launcher system in the Kursk direction. Overall, the enemy has lost 5,137 servicemen during the fighting, the Ministry of Defense reported.

▫️ The CEO of “Oboronlogistics,” Lukyanov, told RIA Novosti that the ferry crossing through the Kerch Strait will continue to operate despite attacks and shelling from Ukraine.

▫️ Indian Prime Minister Modi arrived in Ukraine on Friday and stated that he is personally ready to contribute to resolving the conflict in Ukraine. He also called on the parties involved to find a path to its conclusion together.

wookiemeister said:

August 23rd. Key updates:

▫️ The CEO of “Oboronlogistics,” Lukyanov, told RIA Novosti that the ferry crossing through the Kerch Strait will continue to operate despite attacks and shelling from Ukraine.

Nope. Not with this ferry (the ‘Conro Trader’).

Video link

Black smoking was billowing over the region and government officials on Telegram reported the vessel later sank at its pier. They were working to limit environmental damage.

August 25th. Key updates.

▫️ The Armed Forces of Ukraine lost more than 300 people in the Kursk direction during the day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

▫️ More than 1,900 people and nine tanks were lost by Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense reported.

▫️ The Russian armed forces hit the temporary deployment point of foreign mercenaries.

▫️ The Russian troops continue to put pressure on the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kupyansk and Volchansk directions, Ganchev told RIA Novosti.

▫️ The Ukrainian Armed Forces struck the village of Rakitnoye in the Belgorod region at night, killing five civilians and wounding 13 people, governor said.

▫️ The Investigative Committee opened a case under the article “terrorist attack” after the AFU attack on Rakitnoye.

▪️ Saratov airport was temporarily restricted from receiving and sending aircraft after a UAV attack in the region, the airport’s press service told RIA Novosti;

▪️ A second Ukrainian aircraft-type UAV was destroyed in the Bryansk region, with no casualties or damage, the governor Bogomaz said;

▪️ Residents of a high-rise building on Predmostovaya Square in Saratov will be moved to a hotel. This was announced by the mayor of the city Lada Mokrousova on her TG channel;

▪️ Nearly 100 drone attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine were foiled over three major cities of the DPR during the week.

This was reported by the press service of the regional directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service for the region.

❗️Details of large-scale strikes on Ukrainian defence industry facilities:

▫️ An air alert was declared in Ukraine after 6am Moscow time;

▫️ Ukrainian media reported explosions in a number of regions: Kiev, Kiev Oblast, Kharkov, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnitsa, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov and Odessa regions;

▫️ Kiev has been hit by power cuts after a series of explosions. In total, about a dozen explosions were heard in the city, according to the pro-Russian resistance;

▫️ A power station was hit in Odessa, pro-Russian resistance coordinator Sergey Lebedev told RIA Novosti;

▫️ In Ivano-Frankovsk, the strike hit a hangar with equipment; the explosion occurred in an area where the AFU had hidden two F-16s, a pro-Russian underground told RIA Novosti;

▫️ In Volyn, a strike was carried out on a Ukrainian military base.

⚡️ Ukrainian troops in the direction of Kursk lost more than 400 men and 27 armoured vehicles during the 24 hours, the Ministry of Defence reported.

Russian forces repelled attacks in the direction of Kremianoye, Malaya Loknya and Nechayev. AFU attacks in the direction of Komarovka, Spalnoye, Korenevo, Pogrebki and Olgovka were thwarted.

⚡️ Moldova suffered power cuts as a result of an attack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, Moldovan energy company Moldelectrica reported.

August 31st. Key updates:

▪️The losses of Ukrainian troops over the day totalled up to 2,025, according to the Russian Defence Ministry;

▪️The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces in the direction of Kursk during the day amounted to up to 400 soldiers and 18 armoured vehicles, the Russian Defence Ministry said;

▪️Russian forces destroyed a warehouse of rocket-artillery weapons and military equipment of the AFU in the Sumy region with an Iskander strike, the Russian Defence Ministry said;

▪️An MLRS facility with AFU fighters servicing it has been destroyed in the Sumy region of Ukraine;

▪️37 people, including 7 children, are in hospital in Belgorod after the AFU shelling, 11 patients are in serious condition, Russian Deputy Health Minister Alexei Kuznetsov said;

▪️The Russian army has improved its position in Volchansk, said the head of the Russian administration in the Kharkov region, Vitaliy Ganchev;

▪️The Biden administration has abandoned the idea of sending US civilian personnel to Ukraine to maintain the F-16s because of security concerns, the WSJ claims;

▪️It is difficult to judge what goal the West had in mind when it backed Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk region, they have “sophisticated brains”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said;

▪️Increased arms supplies and money pouring into Ukraine will not help end the conflict, said Tino Krupalla, co-chairman of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party.

wookiemeister said:

August 31st. Key updates:

▪️The losses of Ukrainian troops over the day totalled up to 2,025, according to the Russian Defence Ministry;

▪️The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces in the direction of Kursk during the day amounted to up to 400 soldiers and 18 armoured vehicles, the Russian Defence Ministry said;

▪️Russian forces destroyed a warehouse of rocket-artillery weapons and military equipment of the AFU in the Sumy region with an Iskander strike, the Russian Defence Ministry said;

▪️An MLRS facility with AFU fighters servicing it has been destroyed in the Sumy region of Ukraine;

▪️37 people, including 7 children, are in hospital in Belgorod after the AFU shelling, 11 patients are in serious condition, Russian Deputy Health Minister Alexei Kuznetsov said;

▪️The Russian army has improved its position in Volchansk, said the head of the Russian administration in the Kharkov region, Vitaliy Ganchev;

▪️The Biden administration has abandoned the idea of sending US civilian personnel to Ukraine to maintain the F-16s because of security concerns, the WSJ claims;

▪️It is difficult to judge what goal the West had in mind when it backed Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk region, they have “sophisticated brains”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said;

▪️Increased arms supplies and money pouring into Ukraine will not help end the conflict, said Tino Krupalla, co-chairman of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party.

600,000 killed, wounded, captured, missing?

September 4th Key updates:

▪️Units of the Central and Eastern Groups of the Russian Armed Forces have taken control of the settlements of Karlovka and Prechistovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defence;

▪️Ukrainian troop losses over the day totalled up to 1,935;

▪️The Russian armed forces launched a group attack with long-range precision weapons “Kinzhal” and attack drones against enterprises in Lvov;

▪️Russian aviation struck militant reserves and equipment of nine AFU brigades in 12 districts of the Sumy region, the Defence Ministry said;

▪️An IAEA delegation led by Rafael Grossi visited the ZNPP for an inspection;

▪️Pushilin reported the AFU shelling of the Sokol market in the Kirovsky district of Donetsk, killing three and wounding five;

▪️The flight controllers of the UAVs that attacked a fuel depot in the Kamensky district of the Rostov region in August were pre-tuned in Britain, Zakharova said;

▪️Vucic categorically denied speculation by his political opponents that Serbia might transfer 14 of its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.

September 12th. Key updates:

▪️ Russian forces regained control over ten settlements in the Kursk Oblast in two days, according to the Ministry of Defense.

▪️ The AFU lost over 300 personnel and 24 armored vehicles, including five tanks, in the Kursk direction over the past 24 hours.

▪️ Ukrainian losses in the special operation zone amounted to up to 2,000 personnel within a day, based on a Ministry of Defense briefing.

▪️ Temporary restrictions were in place at the airports in Murmansk and Apatity from 9:35 AM to 2:10 PM Moscow time for security reasons, according to Rosaviatsiya.

▪️ Defense Minister Andrey Belousov inspected the training of Russian Aerospace Forces specialists at the Military Air Academy in Voronezh.

▪️ Russian forces are steadily pushing Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk Oblast, stated Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

▪️ Moscow is convinced that the decision to allow Kiev to use long-range missiles against Russian territory was made long ago, and efforts are now being made to formalize it, Lavrov added.

▪️ United Aircraft Corporation delivered new batches of Su-57 and Su-35S fighter jets to the Russian Aerospace Forces, marking the first known Su-57 deliveries this year.

wookiemeister said:

September 12th. Key updates:

▪️ Russian forces regained control over ten settlements in the Kursk Oblast in two days, according to the Ministry of Defense.

▪️ The AFU lost over 300 personnel and 24 armored vehicles, including five tanks, in the Kursk direction over the past 24 hours.

▪️ Ukrainian losses in the special operation zone amounted to up to 2,000 personnel within a day, based on a Ministry of Defense briefing.

▪️ Temporary restrictions were in place at the airports in Murmansk and Apatity from 9:35 AM to 2:10 PM Moscow time for security reasons, according to Rosaviatsiya.

▪️ Defense Minister Andrey Belousov inspected the training of Russian Aerospace Forces specialists at the Military Air Academy in Voronezh.

▪️ Russian forces are steadily pushing Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk Oblast, stated Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

▪️ Moscow is convinced that the decision to allow Kiev to use long-range missiles against Russian territory was made long ago, and efforts are now being made to formalize it, Lavrov added.

▪️ United Aircraft Corporation delivered new batches of Su-57 and Su-35S fighter jets to the Russian Aerospace Forces, marking the first known Su-57 deliveries this year.

Historically, a good rule of thumb for assessing Russian claims of territory captured, enemy troops lost, enemy equipment destroyed etc., has been to divide by 5.

Overstating success is as ingrained into the Russian military as is overstating your unit’s degrees of readiness, serviceability, and efficiency.

While those habits can be found in almost any military, they’re an absolute culture in the Russian military, and the adage that, if you’re going to tell a lie, you might as well make it a big one, is dogma.

If the Russian military had been as ready and at the levels of capability as it had been telling Moscow for many years, then their 1-week timetable for conquest of all of Ukraine would have been dead easy.

As it is, they’re knee-deep in a slugfest that’s heading for its third year, and Putin is looking a lot more favourably on the idea of some kind of settlement that will let him keep at least some of the ground he’s stolen.

So, given that they completely lied to their own bosses, with disastrous results, why should we give credence to their claims of battlefield success?