Tag: Michael Kofman

The Battle of Pokrovsk Begins

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Weeb Union

Ukraine War Map Looks ‘Grim’ for Zelensky as Russian Offensive Accelerates

Russia’s offensive has concentrated around the Donetsk logistics hub of Pokrovsk as well as Kurakhove. Moscow captured Vuhledar in October and advanced quickly to Velyka Novosilka.

“The Ukrainians have had issues in stabilizing the front here for a long time, and in November, the pace of Russian advance there only quickened even from September and October,” Kastehelmi told Newsweek.

Previously:

Russia’s Swift March Forward in Donbass [Pokrovsk is the prize]

Ukraine Faces a Double Threat if Russia Takes Pokrovsk

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Ukraine Faces a Double Threat if Russia Takes Pokrovsk

Pokrovsk, a once-vibrant city of 80,000 people, is the object of a Russian encircling move that began in July and is creeping within miles of the city as every day passes. The city has served as a key logistics and transportation hub for Ukrainian military operations in eastern Ukraine and is the gateway to conquering the rest of Donetsk Oblast-and potentially on to even bigger prizes such as Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city before the war.

But Pokrovsk’s fall could have an even more insidious impact on Ukraine’s ability to keep fighting: The city is the source of most of the coal used for the country’s steel and iron industry, once the backbone of the Ukrainian economy and still its second-largest sector, though production has fallen to less than one-third of its pre-war levels. That metallurgical coal is needed to produce pig iron, which is what feeds the majority of Ukraine’s old steel furnaces and a significant chunk of its industrial exports. A healthy steel industry also pays a big share of Ukraine’s tax take, helping fund an economy that operates hand-to-mouth these days.

“Without steel plants, the Ukrainian economy will die. It is a very, very important part of the economy,” said Stanislav Zinchenko, chief executive of GMK Center, an Ukraine-based industrial consultancy.

Outgunned and outnumbered, Ukraine’s military is struggling with low morale and desertion

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Full video

Outgunned and outnumbered, Ukraine’s military is struggling with low morale and desertion

Serhiy Tsehotskiy, an officer with the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, told CNN the unit tries to rotate soldiers in and out every three to four days. But drones, which have only increased in number over the course of the war, can make that too dangerous, forcing soldiers to stay put for longer. “The record is 20 days,” he said.

Related:

Ukraine’s Gamble

Ukraine’s Kursk incursion has raised flagging morale among its troops and restored its initiative along a patch of the front. 

59th Motorized Brigade (Ukraine):

“Chosen Company”, a group of volunteers from the United States, Australia, and several other countries, is attached to the 59th Brigade as an assault detachment within the brigade’s reconnaissance company. The unit, which was formerly a part of the International Legion, conducted reconnaissance and assault operations during the 2023 counteroffensive. In 2024, a New York Times article reported three incidents where members of Chosen Company killed Russian POWs, based on statements made by former members of the company.

‘Kill-Crazy’ Foreign Mercs in Ukraine Bragged About Murdering Russian PoWs – Report

Russian responds to leak of ‘secret’ NATO war plan

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Russia was aware of Western involvement in Ukraine even before the documents were leaked online, Dmitry Peskov repeated

Russian responds to leak of ‘secret’ NATO war plan

Related:

Ukraine War Plans Leak Prompts Pentagon Investigation (Archived)

Classified war documents detailing secret U.S. and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military before a planned offensive against Russia were posted this week on social media channels, senior U.S. officials said.

…

U.S. officials were working to get them deleted but had not, as of Thursday evening, succeeded.

Report: The CIA Is Directing Sabotage Attacks Inside Russia

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

The CIA has been using a European NATO country’s intelligence services to conduct sabotage attacks inside Russia since the February invasion of Ukraine, investigative journalist Jack Murphy reported on Saturday, citing unnamed former US intelligence and military officials.

Report: The CIA Is Directing Sabotage Attacks Inside Russia

Related:

The CIA is using a European NATO ally’s spy service to conduct a covert sabotage campaign inside Russia under the agency’s direction, according to former U.S. intelligence and military officials.

‘CIA behind spate of explosions in Russia’: US veteran claims CIA and NATO ally behind sabotage

[3-8-22] Trump Calls Out ‘Fake News’ Over Reports He Did Nothing for Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Trump Calls Out ‘Fake News’ Over Reports He Did Nothing for Ukraine

“The fake news media refuses to report that I was the one who, very early and strongly, gave the anti-tank busters (Javelins) to Ukraine, while Obama/Biden was giving blankets, to great and open complaints,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday.

“Then [President Joe] Biden came in, and canceled the remaining military equipment that was packed, loaded, and ready to be shipped. Now the fake news media is trying to say that Trump gave Ukraine nothing, and it was Biden who is their great friend and gave them weaponry. The dishonesty is so unbelievable. All I can do is report it!”

…

“When Trump was elected, the first thing they did was send in the Javelin,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy Jim Townsend said at the time. “It wasn’t exactly high-end, but we were very happy, and they built on a very firm foundation.”

Related:

Trump Says Russia-Ukraine Tensions ‘Would Never Have Happened’ Under His Presidency:

The Russian Embassy in Washington said if the U.S. was “truly committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the internal Ukrainian conflict” it would “abandon plans to supply new batches of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

On the claim that Obama didn’t send military weapons to Ukraine (supposedly he just didn’t send Javelins)

U.S. officials were concerned that providing the Javelins to Ukraine would escalate their conflict with Russia. Key allies, including Germany, were not keen on sending weapons into the conflict zone, said Michael Kofman, an expert on Russia and senior research scientist at the CNA Corporation.

…

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which became law in November 2015, called for “lethal assistance such as anti-armor weapon systems, mortars, crew-served weapons and ammunition, grenade launchers and ammunition, and small arms and ammunition.”