Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, aka "Putin's Special Operation"

[Yohan]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/australia-de ... 42215.html

Reuters Sat, July 19, 2025
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's government said on Saturday it had delivered M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine as part of a A$245 million ($160 million) package to help the country defend itself against Russia in their ongoing war.

Australia, one of the largest non-NATO contributors to Ukraine, has been supplying aid, ammunition and defence equipment since Moscow invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

Ukraine has taken possession of most of the 49 tanks given by Australia, and the rest will be delivered in coming months, said Defence Minister Richard Marles.
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Australia has also banned exports of alumina and aluminium ores, including bauxite, to Russia, and has sanctioned about 1,000 Russian individuals and entities.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-aims ... 22380.html
Full article link above.
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The Swiss Defense Ministry, which in 2022 ordered five Patriot systems, said Thursday it has been informed by the U.S. Defense Department that it will “reprioritize the delivery of Patriot systems to support Ukraine.”

It was not immediately clear whether the Swiss-ordered Patriots would go directly to Ukraine or would replace units in other European countries that may be donated to Kyiv.

Delivery to Switzerland of the systems, worth billions of dollars, was scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2028.

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Ukraine now makes 40% of its own weapons

Ukraine's domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military, according to Zelenskyy. As uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide — and how quickly — Ukraine is keen to increase its output and widen its strikes on Russian soil.

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“What we need is greater capacity to push the war back onto Russia’s territory — back to where the war was brought from," Zelenskyy said late Wednesday in his nightly video address.

“We must reach the level of 50% Ukrainian-made weapons within the first six months of the new government’s work by expanding our domestic production.”

Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia .

[Yohan]

What an idiot!

Full article, link above.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/anti-woke-da ... 20341.html

Anti-Woke Dad Who Fled With Family to Russia Sent to War Zone

An American father who moved to Russia to avoid LGBTQ+ “indoctrination” for his kids is being sent to the front line against Ukraine despite being assured he would serve in a non-combat role.

Derek Huffman, 46, feels he is being “thrown to the wolves” after being told that his job in the military would be as a correspondent or as a welder, his wife, DeAnna, said in a recorded plea for prayers, which has since been removed from her YouTube page.

Huffman has no prior military experience, DeAnna said, adding that his limited training was conducted in Russian. She suggested this language barrier has made her husband particularly unprepared for the horrors of combat.

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DeAnna, 42, suggested her husband had been misled during the military recruiting process. She added that, after a month of service, her family had yet to receive any pay.

[Voyager1]

@Yohan I looked up the original video as to why he's taken his family to Russia. He's given unjustifiable reasons and put himself and his family at perilous risk

[Yohan]

@Yohan I looked up the original video as to why he's taken his family to Russia. He's given unjustifiable reasons and put himself and his family at perilous risk

Also reported in the DailyMail UK
Follow-up comments are interesting to read. Full article link below.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... Putin.html

.... a now-deleted link on their YouTube channel directed followers to a Telegram group titled Save that Little Girls where an emotional photo of DeAnna and her daughters crying in the street was posted alongside a plea - 'We are asking the United States government to save this family.'
But now, DeAnna says he was misled. 'When he signed up and had all of that done, he was told he would not be training for two weeks and going straight to the front lines,' she said.

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'But it seems as though he is getting one more week of training, closer to the front lines, and then they are going to put him on the front lines.'

It comes after Russia’s wartime toll of dead and wounded reached a historic milestone last month.

According to the British Ministry of Defence, more than one million Russian troops have been killed or injured since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022.

The estimate aligns with a recent study by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, which puts Russian military deaths at up to 250,000 and total casualties, including the wounded, at over 950,000.

In just over three years, Russian fatalities are estimated to be five times higher than the combined death toll from all Soviet and Russian wars between the end of the second world war and the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The family's attempt to escape cultural tensions in the West has led them into the heart of a geopolitical warzone, and with no updates since June, they are left clinging to hope.

'Being alone in a new country, raising kids, and trying to stay strong has tested me in ways I never imagined,' she confessed.

Cry me a river!

"Cry me a river" is an idiom used to express a lack of sympathy or a dismissal of someone's excessive complaints or self-pity. It implies that the person's grievances are exaggerated or not worthy of concern. Essentially, it means, "You can complain all you want, but I don't care".

[Voyager1]

Trump's reversal on sending weapons to Ukraine
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tr ... r-AA1J61Mm

Days after the United States decided to pause key arms shipments to Ukraine, President Donald Trump reversed the decision, pledging to send additional military aid to help Kyiv defend itself from a surge in Russian attacks. Knewz.com has learned that the Pentagon has confirmed the United States’ intention to send additional weapons to aid the embattled country.

Trump made the promise during a statement to reporters during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The President said that Ukraine was “getting hit very, very hard.” He added that the country has “to be able to defend themselves.” Noted the former reality star in a statement, “We’re going to have to send more weapons, defensive weapons primarily.” The announcement marks a sudden policy shift towards Ukraine and comes amid intensifying Russian strikes on the nation. The Pentagon quickly confirmed President Trump’s comments, as Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson, said, “The Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops.”

[yick]

Huffman actually joined the army. Those headlines are slightly misleading as in they've pressganged him into service when no such thing has happened. Huffman wanted the high wages offered without wanting to go on the front lines, his recruiter said that was possible because he has a trade so he signed up and now he is going to the front lines. His fault for being an idiot but if he hadn't gone into the recruiting office and signed on the dotted line - he would still be with his family and not going to the front lines.

Going to Russia makes sense if you have something to offer the population - teaching English and having relevant qualification would make sense but Russia, I am sure has enough welders, brick layers and the like. If you are taking your family to Russia with your trade as a welder then how are you going to make a living there? It's not like Russia lacks welders.

[Voyager1]

He was a fool to go to Russia. Ukraine would have treated him much better.

He was a fool to go at all. He could have just home schooled his daughters in Texas to avoid LGBTQ indoctrination.

[Shemp]

.Going to Russia makes sense if you have something to offer the population - teaching English and having relevant qualification would make sense but Russia, I am sure has enough welders, brick layers and the like. If you are taking your family to Russia with your trade as a welder then how are you going to make a living there? It's not like Russia lacks welders.

Actually they do lack welders and brick layers and every other manual occupation. Unemployment is next to zero in such occupations. But those are physically hard jobs anywhere and Russian pay versus what that pay gives in terms of quality of life is probably worse than Britain or USA. It's like there are plenty of job openings in the USA in meat packing plants that were previously employing illegal immigrants from Central America that Trump is now expelling, but who wants such jobs other than desperately poor immigrants? And then there's the language barrier. Plus, in many manual labor jobs in Russia, you'd be working and living side by side with poor immigrants from Uzbekistan, so double cultural/language barrier. Russians keep the good and high paying manual labor jobs for family and friends,same as in USA.

[Voyager1]

What it’s like going to the frontlines in Ukraine

[Yohan]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ukr ... 29389.html

Ukrainian drones target St Petersburg as Putin attends scaled-down Navy Day
Sun, July 27, 2025

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukrainian drones targeted St. Petersburg on Sunday, Russian authorities said, forcing the airport to close for five hours as Vladimir Putin marked Russia's Navy Day in the city, despite the earlier cancellation of its naval parade due to security concerns.

St. Petersburg usually holds a large-scale, televised navy parade on Navy Day, which features a flotilla of warships and military vessels sailing down the Neva River and is attended by Putin.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Sunday that this year's parade had been cancelled for security reasons, following first reports of its cancellation in early July.

[Voyager1]

Trump has made 'another step towards war with Russia'
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tr ... r-AA1JuUPE

If he has Russia will lose. The United States should just nuke Russia. Wipe them out

[Yohan]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/ukrai ... 26563.html

Ukraine says it hit Russian oil facilities as well as a military airfield and electronics factory
August 2, 2025
Novokuybyshevsk, Russia
Penza, Russia

Eyewitness video released on Saturday (August 2) shows an explosion near a Russian oil facility in Novokuybyshevsk, Russia.

Reuters was able to confirm the location of the video from the buildings, the road layout and the trees, which matched file and satellite imagery of the area.

The date when the video was recorded could not be verified independently.

However, the governor of the Samara region said on August 2 that an enemy drone had struck an industrial enterprise in Novokuybyshevsk.

An eyewitness captured video of a drone flying over Penza in Russia on Saturday (August 2), moments before an explosion and rising smoke were seen in the distance.

Ukraine's SBU intelligence agency claimed responsibility for striking a factory in the area that it said supplies electronics to Russia's military-industrial complex.

Reuters was able to verify the location of the video as Penza from the buildings, the overhead power lines and the road layout, which matched street view imagery of the area.

The date when the video was recorded was verified by an official statement from the Security Service of Ukraine, which confirmed a strike on a manufacturing plant in Penza.

There was no immediate comment from Russia on the reported attacks on its infrastructure sites., Russia
Penza, Russia

Eyewitness video released on Saturday (August 2) shows an explosion near a Russian oil facility in Novokuybyshevsk, Russia.
Reuters was able to confirm the location of the video from the buildings, the road layout and the trees, which matched file and satellite imagery of the area.
The date when the video was recorded could not be verified independently.

However, the governor of the Samara region said on August 2 that an enemy drone had struck an industrial enterprise in Novokuybyshevsk.

An eyewitness captured video of a drone flying over Penza in Russia on Saturday (August 2), moments before an explosion and rising smoke were seen in the distance.

Ukraine's SBU intelligence agency claimed responsibility for striking a factory in the area that it said supplies electronics to Russia's military-industrial complex.

Reuters was able to verify the location of the video as Penza from the buildings, the overhead power lines and the road layout, which matched street view imagery of the area.

The date when the video was recorded was verified by an official statement from the Security Service of Ukraine, which confirmed a strike on a manufacturing plant in Penza.

There was no immediate comment from Russia on the reported attacks on its infrastructure sites.

Never heard about this small city called Novokuybyshevsk and I had to look it up on maps on the internet, it is about 1400 km east of Kviv. There are several huge petroleum factories there.

It seems it is not the first time that this city and its factories have been attacked by drones from Ukraine.

Also other pretroleum factories are attacked by Ukraine frequently to cut off fuel support for the Russian military.
This report below is from March 2025.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/39 ... t-mon.html

The Novokuibyshevsk Oil Refinery in Russia’s Rostov region came under attack in the early hours of Monday, March 10.
This was reported on Telegram by the chief of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Kovalenko, Ukrinform saw.

The refinery boasts a 8.8 million tonne annual capacity, making it one of the 10 largest such facilities in Russia.

The facility produces a wide range of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, and fuel oil, all critically important for transport and military equipment, Kovalenko noted.

Read also: CCD: Drones strike one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in Ufa

The official says the facility is of strategic importance for the Russian army, as it ensures stable supplies of fuel for the ongoing war effort targeting Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, in the early hours of Saturday, March 8, drones operated by Ukraine’s defense intelligence attacked the Kirishnefteorgsintez enterprise in Russia’s Leningrad region.

Well, just continue the good work. It might give some Russian people the feeling that Ukraine is able to attack even places far away from the Ukrainian border. 1400 km is not a short distance.