General Petraeus could be a valuable advisor to Ukraine. Russian forces could be in for a long summer. The Kyiv Independent interview with Petraeus is very interesting. He talks about Ukraine achieving сombined arms with their forces.
Guardian blog
There were some technical issues as Solovyov’s TV show moved into a new studio, presumably under several meters of reinforced concrete:
Russian weather forecast:
Genocidal Russian TV presenter:
Host Olga Skabeeva said Russia needs the final solution of the Ukrainian question and proposed “destroying every living thing” in the Kharkiv region.
I think Putin and his gang can stop looking for the “Nazis” now. Here they are. Pretty fucking obvious.
They seem nice.
Does Olga mean Ogress?
I hope most of the Russians are appalled by her Nazi-like statements.
Unfortunately, probably a majority of her viewers agree with her.
Anti-Putin Russian fighters (the Liberty of Russia Legion & the Russian Volunteer Corps) have offered to hand over captured Russian soldiers to the local governor. They’re getting bolder.
Is this the start of a counter-offensive, a distraction by Ukraine or a plain lie by Russia?
And Belgium is asking if weapons they gave to Ukraine were used by pro-Ukrainian forces during raids into Russia, which was not part of the agreement when they were supplied.
I’d think the Ukrainians wouldn’t directly allow this, since it might cause problems if their allies get more hesitant about sending in weaponry and such.
Reports during the counteroffensive (whenever it starts) from the Russian side should be ignored - Russian military culture has proven to be dominated by fear and gift, meaning that local commanders will be incentivized to give rosy reports to their superiors, regardless of the truth.
I saw a report earlier today, in which Western intelligence agencies were warning that Russia has already made a lot of propaganda videos for claiming the counter-offensive is failing, using old combat footage and the like. The Propaganda War is real, and we’re all on the frontlines of that one.
Sort of like how they destroyed fifty Bradleys before the vehicles in question even reached Europe.
Prigozhin says a “settlement near Bakhmut was retaken by Ukraine.” Combined with his allegedly capturing a Russian officer who apparently ordered his men to shoot at Wagner mercs while the officer was drunk, he’s really making some kind of power play. Either trying to be the next Putin or undercutting the Army brass. Or both.
Could well be a feint or misdirection of course.
Hornets to be used by Ukrainian forces to sting Russian soldiers in US-backed plan?
Hey, as long as they’re airworthy and there’s plenty of spare parts, why not?
Here’s a non-paywalled link I found.
Australia, the US, and Ukraine are discussing sending 41 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets to Kyiv, rather than scrapping them as planned, The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reports, referring to its sources.
In other Australian-Ukrainian news:
Australia is set to give Ukraine the missile-capable, four-wheel-drive armoured cars that it has been requesting for months – the Hawkei – as the centrepiece of a forthcoming support package.
If, (and it’s a big IF), Ukraine manages to take out the majority of Russian anti-aircraft defenses, that should be… game over at this point. I wonder if that has been war-gamed.
(And I think Ukraine is getting plenty of strategic advice/intel from a variety of sources.)