off-topic, not breaking news.
Just a nitpick - I believe Churchill attributed it to the French General Weygand.
Mentioning France, there’s the old French song “Cet animal est très méchant - quand on l’attaque, il se défend”
Moderating: This is the breaking-news thread, not the nitpick and stray music trivia thread. Please don’t do this again. I’ll hide your off-topic post.
Some more Russian oil refineries go boom, as well as some oil tankers:
Russia also claims to have shot down over 600 drones overnight.
I haven’t seen very much recent news of attacks against Odessa ports.
That bring a new prospective on Ukraine’s Black Sea drone strikes. They have to challenge Russia’s warships.
Link In Odesa, no-one is safe from Russia's new Black Sea strike campaign
Russia’s Black Sea fleet is basically irrelevant at this point. These strikes are coming from ground-based missiles and drones.
Also, the uptick in Russia’s attack on commercial shipping in the Black Sea is a direct response to Ukraine’s recent wave of attacks on Russian shipping in the Sea of Azov and the eastern Black Sea. Ukraine had to know this sort of response would have been forthcoming, and I would expect they factored that in to the decision to go after the so-called Russian shadow fleet.
Does anyone know what percentage of Russia’s oil infrastructure has been destroyed?
And yes, I know that there are different ways to measure “amount of infrastructure”, that would probably give different answers.
Most certainly. The guy who has orchestrated the campaign, Robert Brovdi or ‘Magyar’, was a grain trader before the war. He absolutely understood the strategic exchange beforehand.
Ukrainian forces struck two Russian oil refineries and a surveillance post mounted on a Black Sea drilling rig on the night of 8 August, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
The strikes extend a months-long Ukrainian campaign against Russia’s refining sector. Ukrainian forces attacked Russian refineries about 50 times between mid-April and 13 July, hitting at least 24 of the country’s 34 large plants and cutting refining volumes to their lowest level in more than two decades, Bloomberg estimated.
Refineries struck so far:
Turkey to transfer munitions to Ukraine unless Demento Don gets a call from Putin.
The US Congress has been notified of Turkeys intention to transfer 12 M270A0, 2.542 227mm M26 DPICM Rockets, 70 M39 ATACMS Short Range Balistic Missiles and 47.000 203mm M509A1 DPICM Artillery Shells to Ukraine.
The transfer is to take place after Congress was notified, which took place on August 3rd, 2026.
OK, that answers my question, then: They’ve lost about a third of their capacity (note that the 45% was for the refineries actually hit by drones, not for all of them).
About those North Korean missiles going to Russia. Delete the space after https
Ukrainian resistance saboteurs attack a Russian munitions train carrying North Korean missiles and shells, in far Eastern Siberia, in a location selected to maximize damage and to hamper recovery and repair efforts.
I hope the NK are smart enough to ship FOB. Scarecrows gotta eat.
The trick to embedding a YouTube video is to submit it really quickly after putting it in. I’ve fixed it for you.
I switch to manual mode (the M with a down-arrow next to the A), and paste the link. The video embeds when the post is submitted. If you try to edit the post, it doesn’t work.
I close the preview pane when embedding a video.
Moderating: OK, no more helpful hints on embedding videos.
Here is the pinned thread for posting video advice: How to avoid the YouTube posting bug
Another round of drone attacks on Moscow and the UK MoD said they are ignoring Russia’s threats and will keep supporting Ukraine:
Russia/Ukraine update:
Ukraine Bombed Two More Russian Frigates in the Black Sea:
Ukrainian Forces Destroy S-300 Missile Carrier Loaded with Missiles (Video):
Russia Is Using Drones As Acoustic Sensors To Restrict Gray Zone Roads:
Estonia Probes Possible Russian Sabotage After Milrem Robotics Arson:
Aggressors Fulcrums: the Soviet MiG-29 Unit Tasked to Simulate USAF F-15 Fighters:
Polish Ministry of National Defense Admits That Operation of MiG-29s, Which They Want to Exchange for Ukrainian Drone Technology, Is Dangerous:
Ukraine already deploys their own electric motorcycles. That should help against monitoring truck noise.
Ukraine has intelligence that Russia is planning new ground offensives against Kyiv and Chernihiv — while Moscow ramps up drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, told reporters that Russian military chiefs have been tasked by the Kremlin’s political leaders with planning and preparing for attacks on the two cities, according to intelligence received and verified by Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Saturday that “escalation from Russia’s side is progressing.” He made those comments following a briefing from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unexpected visit to Moscow, where he warned Russian officials not to escalate conflict with America’s NATO allies.
Reading between the lines I’m guessing that Putin is preparing for a mass mobilization to prepare for a new ground offensive against Kyiv. It probably goes without saying that, regardless of the effectiveness of such an attack, it would come with an enormously high casualty rate. I wonder if this is what prompted John Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia?