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Russia-Ukraine War - News and Developments PART 2

US is selling gas to Germany at 4 times the price of the Russia gas and 7 times the price of the gas in the US.

This is a masterstroke by the US. This is why I love the US.

US is the undisputed super power of the world.
And US is consumer is paying several x times of price before EUrope's war started.

It was not US that told Germany to focus on Russia for its energy needs, not build LNG infrastructure (including terminals) and have other suppliers. Those were all German's own doing for love with Putin.

So of course if US is going to send surplus gas its going to send it for higher than what its own consumers pay for. This is the same in all energy producing countries.

Russia can just print money to finance war. Russia has lots of trees to make paper to print money.

Are you on some sort of opioids or some medicine? You do know that in modern day when they say a country can print money, they are not referring to it physically cutting down trees and printing money?
 
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Merkel: Europe Can Achieve Lasting Peace Only with Russia​

Omnia Ahmed
by Omnia Ahmed

10:28 AM October 7, 2022

Merkel: Europe Can Achieve Lasting Peace Only with Russia

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Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed, on Thursday, that lasting peace in Europe can be reached only with the involvement of Russia, DPA news reported.​

During her speech at a ceremony dedicated to the 77th anniversary of the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Munich, Merkel affirmed that the Cold War will go on until a lasting peace is achieved with the help of Russia.
In addition, the former chancellor pointed out that the current situation in Ukraine was a “turning point”, reiterating that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s words should be taken very seriously.
“We all are strongly advised to take the words seriously rather than classify them as a bluff from the very start,” Merkel said.
“Taking words seriously, not dismissing them from the outset as just a bluff, but dealing with them seriously is by no means a sign of weakness or appeasement, but a sign of political wisdom – a wisdom that helps to maintain room for maneuver or, at least as important, even to develop new ones,” she noted in previous remarks.

Last week, Merkel highlighted the need to work with Moscow on a pan-European security architecture amid the Nord Stream gas leaks.
Merkel tried to improve relations with Russia and supported the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline construction project. She also noted that Germany currently has “no reason to be complacent,” adding that this crisis could be surpassed with sufficient strength and self-confidence.

Putin was very much in the western fold and this is the time Merkel remembers: where Putin and Kremlin made money, took that money and put it in the west, go from rich to richer and shake hands at G8/G20 summits for the last 20 years. It was on this basis that Europe thought they had a good thing going. Thugs get richer and their enemy doesn't threaten.

Even after 2014 annexation followed by downing of an airliner, they thought the worst could not come but they should have realized that the world was going to be different. Instead Putin kept on getting benefit of doubt.

Merkel had enough sway over Putin that when Alexei Navalny was poisoned, she got him to Germany for treatment in 2020. Thats how the world went then.

 
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Watching DOD and British Military Intelligence Briefing. Now I think the stacking in Orikhiv make sense.

The Ukrainian has been stealth stacking Orikhiv, which is opposite to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant. With the Bridge damage, they can't run rail supply line to supply even remotely the same amount from Russia over Kerch Bridge anymore, any supplies now need to run thru A-Road from Mariupol to Melitopol and into Crimea and Kherson. Which mean if this land route were interruped, then basically that's game over for Kherson because a damaged bridge couple with ferry cannot ferry nearly enough supples for both Kherson and Crimea, something gotta give, and Russia will no doubt have to give up Kherson.

That's why we are seeing 6 Brigade in that line opposite to Melitopol, a direct run from Orikhiv to Melitopol is only 80km, even shorter than from NE Kherson to Kherson. I suspect that is what the Ukrainian reserve was deployed, they may try to have a run toward Melitopol.
Melitopol is something we mentioned about in possible counter offensive early in the war besides Kharkiv and Kherson.
 
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I have been thinking about that myself.

Look at it from several different factors. This is what we do in the Miliary for Damage Assessment, and most likely what the Russian is doing now.

1.) How much explosive to have taken out one entire road bridge, damage another, and damage to the Train and Train Track next to it?

2.) Was it one explosion or two?

3.) How does the bomb get in position? And how that affect the bombing.

4.) How much Damage assessment was done, co-related to the location of bombing.

Now, if we can answer all these question, then we probably have a good idea how they pull this off. So let's start

1.) Explosion taken out one entire section of the bridge is not small, and the damage it had done is quite big, I would say it is at least 1000 pound explosion involved, may be more, so a few things are going t be out of question, since we didn't see any pillar was damaged or destroyed, we can rule out C4 on load bearing beam, we can also rule out any thing from below because there were no blast damage from the joint that was exposed. And the surface of the bridge have a radiated and larger burnt mark than the side of the bridge, as the two photos below

View attachment 885902View attachment 885903

I can say for certain (90%+ Certainty), this is a roadside det of a 1000 pound or more device.

2.) If we look at the first picture of the rail bridge, you can see the side and the pillar underneat the train are both blackened, and suffered fire damage. Which suggest the fireball of the road bridge burn up and toward the rail bridge. Now I can't say for sure someone didn't just put C4 on the burned pillar and it just didn't go down, don't have enough data for that, but I would found it strange if they do send frogman to mine the rail bridge, why not do the same with the road bridge? So I found that unlikely, and based on that, I would conclude with potential certainty (50-60%) that this is a single bomb.

3.) The bridge have X-ray to scan trucks and car on both ends, whether or not they are probably done, or has been done at all are unknown, so I cannot comment on that. However, if this is a truck bomb, and this is more or less maximum damage, then I don't think it is likely this is a truck bomb without the driver knowing because you have to be very lucky to have all the things line up without direct control of the driver. The bomb has to be detonated on the middle stretch of the bridge and has to be next to the railway with a fuel train on top. 10 seconds before or after would have change the damage matrix a lot because you will be detonating the bomb on top of a pillar, most likely weaken the road bridge but not taking it down, and 10 second would mean you will be 800 meters forward or backward from the train, which will not consume the train, I have ZERO doubt this is a coordinated strike, too much co-incident to have it a blind sabotage, a "Hope and Pray" style strike, if this is a truck bomb, the driver HAVE TO BE IN THE KNOW.

So what other delivery method? If not truck or car bomb?

It can be a hit and run scoop from SF. A few frogman team using submersible and get all the way out to Kerch Bridge without being detected. Lay explosive on the bridge but as I explained, this is more likely a surface det, which mean the Frogman would have to work on the road surface with full view of Russian and motor traffic, this is unlikely.

The bomb on the train? Most likely not, an explosive this big would have disintegrate the train. Or at least blow it off the bridge, if the train have the bomb, the train will not be on the track afterward. So no, I don't believe so.

Missile? The only missile remotely able to reach the bridge is Ballistic Missile, but it's hard to hit the specific point with old Russian technology, either ATACMS or US supplies ballistic missile could do the trick, but there are no record of any transfer, however, I have suspected US or Western Country has been working on upgrade on Ukrainian Missile stock, maybe integrate it into Western Guidance system, that would give them range and accuracy to pin point attack. Especially so after Ukrainian sink Moskva and the ammo dump and airfield attack in Crimea.

4.) As explained before, this is probably the maximum damaged across the entire bridge, there are no part of the bridge were not damaged, and some part of the bridge was seriously damaged.

This is highly likely a coordinated strike, intel between the train and how and when such attack occur will not be notified by the Russian. This is not some mad ram suicide attack, the traffic was moving as usual before the attack, which mean this is out of nowhere by the Ukrainian, meaning they have way to get around the Russian defences on the bridge.

With all the info, I can conclude This is Highly Likely a suicide VBIED type attack, or a Missile Strike, less likely it is SF Direct Action op (SF would still be involved, just not on the ground) highly unlikely this is an unorganised attack. They have been planning this for a while.
Any chance this was an accident? The direction the truck was going was from Russia to Crimea. Could be another mishandling of explosives and attempt to hide it in the truck while transporting it to the Russian forces. Would be more embarrassing.
 
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Any chance this was an accident? The direction the truck was going was from Russia to Crimea. Could be another mishandling of explosives and attempt to hide it in the truck while transporting it to the Russian forces. Would be more embarrassing.

Yes and if a nuke just so happens to explode in Kiev Russians will claim it was an accident.
 
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Melitopol is something we mentioned about in possible counter offensive early in the war besides Kharkiv and Kherson.
Yeah, but then it wouldn't make sense as a standalone op, because you need to either took Kherson or break thru from Donetsk to get that line rolling.

But with the line gone, they would have to double or event triple the effort to resupply Kherson and Crimea, and it would have been a decisive blow if Ukraine attack toward Melitopol now, that would cut the supply line to Western part of the battlefield.
 
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Yeah, but then it wouldn't make sense as a standalone op, because you need to either took Kherson or break thru from Donetsk to get that line rolling.

But with the line gone, they would have to double or event triple the effort to resupply Kherson and Crimea, and it would have been a decisive blow if Ukraine attack toward Melitopol now, that would cut the supply line to Western part of the battlefield.
Probably waiting for more progress in Kherson before making a flanking attack? So that way the Russians fleeing realize they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
 
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Any chance this was an accident? The direction the truck was going was from Russia to Crimea. Could be another mishandling of explosives and attempt to hide it in the truck while transporting it to the Russian forces. Would be more embarrassing.
well, everything can happen, it's just what are the chances.

When you combine timing (Near Winter with Ukraine trying to crack Kherson, and on Putin B-day no less?), and damage not only a bridge got destroyed but also the rail bridge was damage because a fuel train was convincedly just happened to be there right next to the explosion?

Well, either it is pre-planned, or Ukrainian just hit the jackpot in Vegas.....That's Intelligence Operator paradise to hit that score, it's like a trifactor and I don't believe in Ukrainian score that many lucky moment...
 
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Probably waiting for more progress in Kherson before making a flanking attack? So that way the Russians fleeing realize they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
This is probably not about aiming at the fleeing Russian, I would think they try to hit the Russian where it hurt. Again, winter is coming, and if I tell you now you will only receive 1/2 or even 1/3 of supplies?? Your morale sinks..
 
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This is probably not about aiming at the fleeing Russian, I would think they try to hit the Russian where it hurt. Again, winter is coming, and if I tell you now you will only receive 1/2 or even 1/3 of supplies?? Your morale sinks..
Added bonus when Russians realize what's happening there and start fleeing soon to Crimea because it gets closed.
 
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