Russian special military operation in Ukraine #58

and will be able to intercept ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles 

Current intercept rate of 90% or more is impressive enough.

 to strike Russian forces

Most of the time they are targeting Russian civilians.

kvs wrote:

ALAMO wrote:
Poland faces huge energy inflation, with electricity bills skyrocketing since July 1st.
MWh price is higher than in Germany and the UK, while the income is still half of it.
De facto it is the highest energy price all over Europe other than Italy.

Perfect time to send electricity to Ukria for free.

I don't think it is, in theory at least, free. It appears that the EU is lending Ukraine money that can then used by them to purchase the electricity at premium prices, so the Euro goes back into EU pockets . 

Also Ukraine is still, until the end of this year, getting NG transit fees from either the EU or Russia depending on political sensitivity.

JohninMK wrote:I don't think it is, in theory at least, free. It appears that the EU is lending Ukraine money that can then used by them to purchase the electricity at premium prices, so the Euro goes back into EU pockets .

The electricity must be generated with something. It isn't free. The Poles are talking about restarting coal power plants.

The Poles are the ones touting it being free.   Obviously it costs money to generate since workers need to be paid and inputs need to be bought.

They should have ramped up the power generation in anticipation of the grid being destroyed.   So the foaming at the mouth Russia
hating Polish regime was actually riding on Putin being gentle with the Ukrs.

Thread continued here.

From ZeroHedge

American-made F-16 fighters jets are currently on their way to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday during a NATO public forum of the alliance's annual summit being hosted in Washington D.C. President Biden confirmed alongside European allies that "The transfer process for these F-16s is now under way."

The program has been one year in the making, which has included training Ukrainian pilots at sites on US soil and in Europe. "Those jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer, to make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression," Blinken said further.
Via Reuters

Additionally a joint statement from partner countries in the program, Denmark and The Netherlands, said specifics and details are being withheld for "operational security." "The first of more than 60 American-made F-16 jet fighters are on their way to Ukraine and will be flying later this summer," the allies said.

It was only in May that the first batch of pilots graduated from a US training program. Earlier reports disclosed that they are being trained at Air Forces bases in San Antonio, TX - and in Arizona.

The announcement which comes on the second day of the NATO summit strongly signals the alliance is digging its heels in and looking for a fight.

Monday saw one of the biggest Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine in months. The assault involved at least 40 missiles and Russia has been widely accused of attacking Kiev's largest children's hospital. Monday's strikes killed dozens and injured more than 170 across the country. The Kremlin has claimed, however, that it was a Ukrainian anti-air missile which fell on the hospital, and highlighted that it's being used as a "provocation" close in time to world leaders gathering for the NATO summit.

As for the F-16s, Russia has repeatedly vowed that it will not only shoot them out of the skies, but might attack any external base near Ukraine's borders hosting them. For example, in March President Putin vowed while visiting a pilot training base, "We will destroy their warplanes just as we destroy their tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers."

Significantly, Putin had upped the ante given he made clear that even bases in Western countries could be targeted if Ukraine flies sorties from them. "Of course, if they are used from airfields of third countries, they become a legitimate target for us, wherever they are located," he had said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine plans to base at least some of the jets at allied bases outside its territory, on fears that the F-16s will be the first assets targeted by superior Russian aerial forces. Russia has effectively controlled the skies throughout the whole course of the conflict, and Kiev has a steep uphill battle if its hopes to regain control no matter how many Western-supplied jets it possesses.

Big Serge @witte_sergei

The Russians are on the verge of unhinging the Ukrainian defensive belt on the Vovcha River. The capture of Novooleksandrivka and Sokil has Russian forces over the line to the north of the river.

More details on that Iskander/cluster strike a day or so again. Apparently 20 vehicles inc munition.

SIMPLICIUS Ѱ
@simpatico771
Wow, actual first hand info from someone on the ground in Sumy:

2 Days ago, I told you about the Ukrainian military shooting down a Russian missile above Sumy.
I can now confirm that in fact it was a Russian Iskander that hit a Ukrainian convoy.  2 Independent witnesses told me that Ukrainians suffered heavy casualties.
The Russian MOD did release a video about this incident, but I did not link it until now.  The person that I spoke to, told me that they can not put into words the carnage of the attack, and will go for psychological treatment.  The other person explained that they live in the next village and saw the explosion in the sky and then the efforts to repatriate the wounded.

The reason the Ukrainians were able to pass this off as an AD operation was that everyone saw the explosion in the sky, but did not think of it as cluster munitions.

I didn't initially quote the Russian military figures that they released (65), because I thought it was unlikely, however I am now as certain as I can be, that the number is actually higher.
2:07 AM · Jul 10, 2024
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168.1K
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Other posters comments

Remember when AFU was excited for getting cluster 155mm (even though the reason was western masters out of HE) and Russia just tell them they were opening Pandora's Box and will retaliate.

Also an excellent example of why large scale attacks and troop movements are almost impossible in todays military conflicts…observation and combined unmanned missile drone strikes can obliterate any troop concentrations

Masno@NovichokRossiya

Hey, @simpatico771, thanks for sharing my experience, a mention would have been nice.

Chapter and verse on those strikes. A few extra tidbits in it. Note contrary to previous report here the hospital is not 2km from Artyom.

Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in connection with the Kiev regime’s attempts to blame Russia for deliberately attacking Ukraine’s civilian facilities
    
On July 8, the Russian Armed Forces launched a combined strike involving long-range high-precision weapons systems against Ukrainian military facilities in retaliation for repeated attempts by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to damage our country’s economic enterprises. The facilities include the Artyom and Antonov plants and the Luch Design Bureau in Kiev; the Dnepr and Yuzhmash plants in Dnepropetrovsk, the Heavy-Duty Machine-Building Plant in Kramatorsk; warehouses with Western weaponry and military equipment at the ArcelorMittal Iron and Steel Works in Krivoy Rog, as well as  other facilities. All targets were destroyed.

As has often been the case with the Ukrainian air defence system, its missiles veered off course and hit residential buildings and social facilities. The same happened this time. Many eyewitnesses and other sources have already confirmed that a Western-made NASAMS surface-to-air missile hit a building of the Okhmatdet Hospital for Children in Kiev.   

Officials on Bankovaya Street immediately started blaming Russia for deliberately killing children. However, no one said that the Artyom Plant is located next to the affected clinic, and that Defence Ministry buildings and military warehouses are also located next door. Certainly, no one said that pro-Bandera supporters are deliberately deploying air defence systems in residential areas, using civilians as a “human shield.”

The Kiev junta has been using purely civilian enterprises for military purposes for a long time, either using them to assemble and repair military equipment or to store Western-made weapons and military equipment. Additionally, the Armed Forces of Ukraine use civilians and civilian facilities to shield their positions. Quite often, carriages with military equipment and service personnel are hitched on to passenger trains. Postal delivery vehicles also transport weapons.

All this rudely violates international humanitarian law that expressly forbids the use of civilian facilities for military purposes.

Attempts by the Zelensky regime to use the tragedy with the children’s hospital in Kiev for propaganda purposes confirm its inhuman Nazi essence once again. The Kiev regime is ready to commit any crimes for the sake of retaining power. It cares nothing about the destinies and lives of fellow citizens, including children.

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

Russian forces in Ukraine have destroyed three launchers of the improved HAWK anti-aircraft missile system, shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet and also hit the storage depots of the AFU's unmanned boats, the defence ministry said.

The cumulative losses of Ukrainian troops over the day totalled up to 2,100, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

One person was killed and nine civilians wounded when the AFU shelled the town of Shebekino, said Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region.

Russia's Federal Security Service foiled an attempt by Ukrainian security services to carry out a terrorist attack on Russia's aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, in Murmansk, the agency said.

Russia's Federal Security Service also foiled an attempt by Ukrainian special services to assassinate three senior Russian servicemen in Moscow, the security service said.

The US and its allies are providing more than $1 billion to strengthen Ukraine's air defence systems, Washington and its partners said in a joint statement.

The US and allies are now sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which will arrive in Kiev this summer, Blinken said.

The strike hit a UAV and ammunition depot near a railway station in Voznesensk, in Nikolaev region.

@ukraine_watch