Tag: land mines

U.S. intelligence says Ukraine will fail to meet offensive’s key goal + General Frost

Ms. Cat
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Thwarted by minefields, Ukrainian forces won’t reach the southeastern city of Melitopol, a vital Russian transit hub, according to a U.S. assessment

…

“Russians are known to be capable of fighting in cold weather,” the official said.

U.S. intelligence says Ukraine will fail to meet offensive’s key goal

Related:

‘General Frost’: How the Russian winter terrified the country’s enemies

By giving Ukraine cluster bombs, the US is admitting that it’s OK to kill civilians

Ms. Cat

By giving Ukraine cluster bombs, the US is admitting that it’s OK to kill civilians

The estimated dud rate is disputable. According to the Congressional Research Service, “There appear to be significant discrepancies among failure rate estimates. Some manufacturers claim a submunition failure rate of 2% to 5%, whereas mine clearance specialists have frequently reported failure rates of 10% to 30%. A number of factors influence submunition reliability. These include delivery technique, age of the submunition, air temperature, landing in soft or muddy ground, getting caught in trees and vegetation, and submunitions being damaged after dispersal, or landing in such a manner that their impact fuzes fail to initiate.”

The United States has a huge stockpile of cluster munitions — 4.7 million containing hundreds of millions of bomblets — that it is dusting off to deliver to Ukraine after a “difficult decision” by President Joe Biden.

The U.S. last used these munitions in its military excursion in Afghanistan. Trouble was that the little bombs resembled in color and shape the humanitarian aid packets that the U.S. dropped from planes. This confusion, which obviously left many civilians maimed or dead, led to the curtailment of cluster bombs for our next military adventure.

This did not stop Israel from using cluster bombs in its 2006 campaign against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. According to a March 2022 Congressional Research Service report, Israel used them in the “last 3 days of the 34-day war after a U.N. cease-fire deal had been agreed to — resulting in almost 1 million unexploded cluster bomblets to which the U.N. attributed 14 deaths during the conflict.” Israel’s use of the bombs “supposedly affected 26% of southern Lebanon’s arable land and contaminated about 13 square miles with unexploded submunitions. One report states that there was a failure rate of upward of 70% of Israel’s cluster weapons,” the agency said.

Related:

The Packaging Color for Air-Dropped Humanitarian Rations was Changed from Yellow to Salmon Since Yellow was the Same Color as Air-Dropped Cluster Bombs.

IAEA saw no evidence Moscow planning attack on Zaporizhia nuclear plant + More

Ms. Cat

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi spoke to FRANCE 24 from Vienna and stated that his teams had not observed any Russian military deployment inside the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, despite Ukrainian authorities claiming that Moscow was preparing to attack the site.

IAEA saw no evidence Moscow planning attack on Zaporizhia nuclear plant, but ‘anything can happen’

Related:

Zaporizhzhia NPP False Flag Very Concerning

Nuclear cloud will trigger NATO’s Article 5, US warns Russia (archived)

Zelenskyy wants to draw in NATO forces, and destroy humanity, all because he’s losing!

IAEA Issues Warning over Europe’s Biggest Nuclear Power Plant + ‘Mad panic’ evacuation

Ms. Cat

The situation around Russia’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which sits close to the frontline with Ukraine, is becoming more dangerous, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned on Saturday. The statement came as Kiev is preparing to launch a counteroffensive, and the authorities of Zaporozhye Region began the partial evacuation of cities close to the conflict zone.

IAEA Issues Warning over Europe’s Biggest Nuclear Power Plant

Related:

‘Mad panic’ evacuation as IAEA warns of a nuclear accident at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant occupied by Russian forces

Life in an IDF Firing Zone: For These Palestinians, It’s a Daily Nightmare

Ms. Cat

Fewer than six months after a court order expelling the inhabitants of Masafer Yatta from their homes, life in the area has changed beyond recognition. Day-to-day existence had always been difficult in the eight small villages scattered through the area in the absence of basic facilities, even before Israel declared the area a military firing zone, but in recent months it has grown even worse amid the constant presence of the Israeli army and live-fire training. Roadblocks between the villages make it harder for the inhabitants to get in and out, and roads are closed to non-residents. As a result, many villagers have stopped using their cars. As in the old days, they ride donkeys or they walk.

Life in an IDF Firing Zone: For These Palestinians, It’s a Daily Nightmare

Related:

Classified document reveals IDF ‘firing zones’ built to give land to settlers