Russian special military operation in Ukraine #13

Is anyone else puzzled why it took so long for Russia to act to take out the rail network in Ukraine? Its something you can take out, and keep easily fixable for the future. But allowing this aid in to kill Russian boys is negligence IMHO. All incoming lines from the west need to be blown. Sections of highway should also be hit with buker busters so they are taken out for a few weeks, and any attempts to fix them attacked. Each truck if aid could me 5-10 dead russians or worse. WTF is Modova sending oil in? Shut of their power if they don't agree to stop.

"The Moskva Riddle"

"Get ready: something lethally “asymmetrical” may be about to pop up

By Pepe Escobar, posted with the author’s permission and widely cross-posted

Neither NATO nor Russia is telling us what really happened with the Moskva, the legendary admiral ship of the Black Sea fleet.

NATO because in theory, they know. Moscow, for its part, made it clear they are not saying anything until they can be sure what happened.

One thing is certain. If the Russian Ministry of Defense finds out that NATO did it, they will let loose all the dogs from Hell on NATO, as in “asymmetrical, lethal and fast”.

On Moskva’s location: it was positioned near one of 3 drilling rigs, used for monitoring a whole sector of the Black Sea with hydrophones and NEVA-BS radar, the most westward one, BK-2 Odessa, approximately 66 km northeast from Snake Island. The whole thing was integrated in the regional monitoring systems. As in everything, literally, was monitored: ships, low flying targets, smaller echoes, even the bobbing head of an unsuspecting swimmer.

So there was a quite slim chance that anything – not to mention subsonic Neptune missiles and Bayraktar drones – could have slipped through this aerial net.

So what could have possibly happened?

It could have been some kind of underwater drone, released either from some sneaky sub, or by a SBS team, coming from the western coast, with a stopover at Snake Island. Then that drone somehow managed to drill itself through the Moskva’s hull from below – and exploded its payload inside.

What follows comes from a top source in Brussels: serious, trustworthy, proven record spanning nearly two decades. Yet he may be just spreading disinformation. Or bragging. Or that may be rock solid intel.

Before we start, we should point out it’s hard to believe the Neptune/Bayraktar fairytale angle. After all, as we’ve seen, the Russian fleet had established a multidimensional surveillance/defense layer in the direction of Odessa.

The Moskva was near Odessa, closer to Romania. A year ago, the source maintains, a new phased array locator was installed on it: the illumination range is 500 km. According to the standard Ukrainian narrative, first the Moskva was hit by a drone, and the locators and antennas were smashed. The Moskva was half blind.

Then – according to the Ukrainian narrative – they launched two Neptune cruise missiles from the shore. Guidance was carried out by NATO’s Orion, which was hanging over Romania. The missiles zoomed in on the ship with the homing heads turned off, so that the radiation beam would not be detected.

So we have guidance by NATO’s Orion, transmitting the exact coordinates, leading to two hits, and subsequent detonation of ammunition (that’s the part acknowledged by the Russian Ministry of Defense).

A strategic hit

The Moskva was on combat duty 100-120 km away from Odessa – controlling the airspace within a radius of 250-300 km. So in fact it was ensuring the overlap of the southern half of Moldova, the space from Izmail to Odessa and part of Romania (including the port of Constanta).

Its positioning could not be more strategic. Moskva was interfering with NATO’s covert transfer of military aircraft (helicopters and fighter jets) from Romania to Ukraine. It was being watched 24/7. NATO air reconnaissance was totally on it.

As the Moskva “killer”, NATO may have not chosen the Neptune, as spread by Ukrainian propaganda; the source points to the fifth-generation NSM PKR (Naval Strike Missile, with a range of 185 km, developed by Norway and the Americans.)

He describes the NSM as “able to reach the target along a programmed route thanks to the GPS-adjusted INS, independently find the target by flying up to it at an altitude of 3-5 meters. When reaching the target, the NSM maneuvers and deploys electronic interference. A highly sensitive thermal imager is used as a homing system, which independently determines the most vulnerable places of the target ship.”

As a direct consequence of hitting the Moskva, NATO managed to reopen an air corridor for the transfer of aircraft to the airfields of Chernivtsi, Transcarpathian and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.

In parallel, after the destruction of the Moskva, the Black Sea Fleet, according to the source, “no longer seems to have a ship equipped with a long-range anti-aircraft missile system”. Of course a three-band radar Sky-M system remains in play in Crimea, capable of tracking all air targets at a range of up to 600 km. One wonders whether this is enough for all Russian purposes.

So what do we really have here? Fantasy or reality? There was only one way to know.

I ran the info past the inestimable Andrei Martyanov, who knew the Moskva “as Slava in 1981 when she was afloat in the Northern Bay of Sevastopol and my class which was at first summer practice on board of old cruiser Dzerzhinsky was given an extensive introduction to her. So, she was an old lady and it is too bad that she had to finish her long life this way and at this time.”

Martyanov, once again, was the consummate professional, stressing no one, at this stage, really knows what happened. But he made some crucial points: “Per NSM (if we accept this version), even with its Low Observability and GPS guidance under normal (that is sea up to state 5-6) and normal radio-permeability, even the Moskva’s old frigate radar would have seen those missiles in distances of tens of kilometers, somewhere between 15-20 for sure. NSM, as any NATO anti-shipping missile, are subsonic, with their velocity roughly 300 meters per second. That leaves, even in a 15 kilometer range, 45 seconds to detect track and develop a firing solution for whatever ‘on duty’ AD complex. More than enough reaction time.”

Martyanov also stresses, “it is impossible to hide the external impact of the anti-shipping missile – one will immediately know what hit the ship. Moreover, to hit and sink such a target as the Moskva one has to launch a salvo and not only two missiles, likely 3-4 at least. In this case, Russia would know who attacked Moskva. Does NATO know? I am positive this event has NATO written all over it, if it is not an internal sabotage which absolutely cannot be excluded at this stage. I am sure if Nebo was operational it would have seen the salvo.”

Which brings us to the inevitable clincher: “If NATO was involved, I am sure we will see some retaliation, after all, as I am on record all the time, US bases in Middle East and elsewhere are nothing more than fat prestigious targets.”

So get ready: something lethally “asymmetrical” may be about to pop up"


https://thesaker.is/the-moskva-riddle/

mnztr wrote:Is anyone else puzzled why it took so long for Russia to act to take out the rail network in Ukraine? Its something you can take out, and keep easily fixable for the future.

Phase 1 was a mistake, no need to overthink it at this point. Russians were reluctant to hit fuel storages no long ago as well. This is what happens when you put political goals before military goals. Now it seems the military is in charge of this show (both tempo and targets have changed drastically)

Dr.Snufflebug wrote:Another cruise missile volley incoming. Third run in 24 hours, think that's a first.

I was thinking, Russia must also has in its stock piles in hundreds, if not thousands, of the old Kh-55 cruise missiles manufactured in the 80s and early 90s. Are they also using them? Their range is low compared to the newer KH-101 but certainly can reach all of Ukraine. This should be really cheap way to take out enemy infrastructure compared to using the more expensive Kalibr and Kh-101s.

Another possible scenario for the loss of Moskva - the "ammo detonation" could have been due to an accident in the S-300F system.  A warhead exploded (misfire during launch?) leading to rupture of adjacent missiles and the spreading of burning solid rocket fuel around the equipment room that housed the rotating magazines. The fire spread, more missiles cooked off, etc

This scenario would be consistent with the observed damage - clear signs of fire throughout the center-aft of the ship including scorch marks around the hatches along the S-300F area.

We'll find out eventually...  but its difficult not to indulge in conjecture

Big_Gazza wrote:Another possible scenario for the loss of Moskva - the "ammo detonation" could have been due to an accident in the S-300F system.  A warhead exploded (misfire during launch?) leading to rupture of adjacent missiles and the spreading of burning solid rocket fuel around the equipment room that housed the rotating magazines. The fire spread, more missiles cooked off, etc

This scenario would be consistent with the observed damage - clear signs of fire throughout the center-aft of the ship including scorch marks around the hatches along the S-300F area.

We'll find out eventually...  but its difficult not to indulge in conjecture

Ukro nazi garbage, meant for idiotic Western audience. How will Orion provide guidance to Neptune missiles?

jhelb wrote:

Big_Gazza wrote:Another possible scenario for the loss of Moskva - the "ammo detonation" could have been due to an accident in the S-300F system.  A warhead exploded (misfire during launch?) leading to rupture of adjacent missiles and the spreading of burning solid rocket fuel around the equipment room that housed the rotating magazines. The fire spread, more missiles cooked off, etc

This scenario would be consistent with the observed damage - clear signs of fire throughout the center-aft of the ship including scorch marks around the hatches along the S-300F area.

We'll find out eventually...  but its difficult not to indulge in conjecture

Ukro nazi garbage, meant for idiotic Western audience. How will Orion provide guidance to Neptune missiles?

transmit coordiantes in real time?

ucmvulcan wrote:

Arkanghelsk wrote:Russia says nuclear war ‘unacceptable,’ but danger is real

Moscow believes there are no winners in a nuclear war, but the danger of it is real, says FM Sergey Lavrov

It is dangerously close, here there cannot be a timid attempt to detonate 1 or 2

It must be a full tactical reprisal, let the west climb the escalation ladder

F***, it's gonna happen isn't it? We're going to stumble into thermonuclear apocalypse aren't we?

I doubt it very much as no one can afford the devastating consequences. Russia has no definite plans to invade Europe and NATO can only dream of declaring war against Russia. Only armchair generals and PC warriors would advocate a nuclear exchange.

jhelb wrote:

Big_Gazza wrote:Another possible scenario for the loss of Moskva - the "ammo detonation" could have been due to an accident in the S-300F system.  A warhead exploded (misfire during launch?) leading to rupture of adjacent missiles and the spreading of burning solid rocket fuel around the equipment room that housed the rotating magazines. The fire spread, more missiles cooked off, etc

This scenario would be consistent with the observed damage - clear signs of fire throughout the center-aft of the ship including scorch marks around the hatches along the S-300F area.

We'll find out eventually...  but its difficult not to indulge in conjecture

Ukro nazi garbage, meant for idiotic Western audience. How will Orion provide guidance to Neptune missiles?

You may have noticed that I didn't comment at all on the fanciful crappola of NATO guidance to Neptune missiles?  

This possible scenario revolves around a botched S-300F launch, and its not especially relevent as to why a missile was fired.    Could have been shooting down a TB-2 that came too close (IIRC one of the 11356s used a Shtil SAM to take down a drone just a few days before).  Fanciful?  Maybe, but not that long ago one of the 1135s had a misfire of a Rastrub ASW missile during a fleet display day where the missile broke up as soon as it left the launch tube.  Again, another very old ship (laid down 1979). Now imagine if the missle had exploded in the tube? Or if instead of a deck mounted launcher the Rastrubs were launched from within the hull? Could have been a repeat of the Pr.61 Otvazhny, lost after an explosion caused by a SAM launch failure.

FWIW I don't think Moskva was taken down by Ukropi action.  I think it was an accident, and the navy is quiet about it as they need to determine the exact cause so they can ensure that neither of the Moskvas sister ships are at risk, or even the 1144 Orlans which have almost identical magazine arrangements on their S-300F system.

Briefing by the Russian Defence Ministry

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue a special military operation in Ukraine.

During the night, high-precision air-based missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 4 military facilities of Ukraine. Including 2 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration of the enemy, as well as 2 ammunition depots near  Kurulka and Novaya Dmitrovka of the Kharkov region.

Operational-tactical and army aviation hit 87 military assets of Ukraine. Among them: 79 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration.

About 500 enemy personnel, 59 armored vehicles, artillery mounts and cars were destroyed, as well as more than 60 fighters of the nationalist formation Donbass near Rubtsy of the Donetsk People's Republic.

In addition, 2 launchers of Buk-M1 and Osa AKM anti-aircraft missile systems were destroyed near Veseloe and Prishib, as well as 2 ammunition depots near Novoselovka and Slavyansk.

Missile troops and artillery performed 1299 firing tasks during the day.

37 command posts, 114 strong points of Ukrainian troops, 983 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, 139 positions of Ukrainian artillery and 21 ammunition depots were hit.

Also, 2 Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1 Tochka-U tactical missile launcher and an electronic warfare station were destroyed near Barvenkovo.

Russian air defence means shot down 13 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Novy Mir, Ocheretino Mirnoye, Donetsk, Novolyubovka, Balakleya, Kozacha Lopan.

In addition, 2 Ukrainian Tochka-U missiles were shot down by the Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system in the air over Tokmak, Zaporozhye region and Svatovo, Kharkov region.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 141 aircraft, 110 helicopters, 583 unmanned aerial vehicles, 269 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,576 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 287 multiple rocket launchers, 1,111 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,392 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed.

I wonder if these were being used to aid Russia and Ukraine has now taken them out. If so then Ukraine has declared war on Transnistria.

Updates

1) 2 Grigoriopol radio transmitters destroyed as result of explosions near Mayak village in Transnistria.

2) Germany to authorise tank deliveries to Ukraine: government sources

3) Yesterday, Russian troops using a Su-24 aircraft, tanks, GRAD MLRS, howitzers, 120 mm mortars and large-caliber machine guns attacked following directions: Novodanylivka, Kamyanske, Pavlivka, Orikhiv, Novoandriyivka, Huliaipole, Charivne, Huliaipilske, Vremivka, Novosilka, Poltavka, Volne Pole, Zaliznychne, Uspenivka, Belogorye.

This is a famous turkish journalist .

The return of the Cossacks

Cossack volunteer units played an important role in the war in 2014, between the heroic and the disappointing, and this time they have again answered the call to arms.

Cossack battalions participating in a special operation in Ukraine have been fighting for Donbass on the front line for a month

To date, there are two Cossack regiments and several battalions in the area of the special operation. As part of various military formations, about 4 thousand Cossacks from all Cossack societies and organizations in Russia are fighting together with soldiers of the Russian army.

The Kuban Cossacks of the Ataman Platov regiment, Ataman Chepegi and the 1st Crimean. The Cossacks of the Don and Tavrida divisions went to the battlefield. In the near future, the number of Cossacks participating in the special operation will increase to 5.5 thousand, and three more Cossack detachments will join the battles for the Donbass. At the beginning of April, more than 1,400 Cossacks took part in the fighting.

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