do or die

Lt Col Alexander Blinov celebrated Victory Day, today ........by becoming the 40th Russian Colonel killed in Ukraine

Turns out.....the Makaov was designated as the new Black Sea flagship..........after the loss of Moskva Next.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, head of Odesa regional council, said Russian frigate Admiral Makarov got into 'trouble' in the Black Sea overnight Around half an hour later, he posted an article from local news outlet Dumskaya which said: 'According to preliminary information, the frigate was unable to dodge the Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile. 'The ship is badly damaged, but remains afloat. For now.' The Makarov is an Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, one of the Russian navy's newest vessels and the most state-of-the-art frigate operating in the Black Sea.

Keeping people angry and "engaged" is a staple of right wing populists....

Working out pretty well.... Now we just need more pucks to the opposition net.....

Actually, the Russian Navy has 2 more ships of that class, but Turkey has implemented an international convention on naval passage (Montreux Convention)through two of its strategic straits, which limit the movement of Russian warships between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. So, the Russian Black Sea navy has lost their main amphibious ship, their Missile Cruiser flagship, and top naval commander (killed earlier in the conflict) According to plan.

Putin's reserve call up of 150,000 conscripts, aged 18-65...... speaks volumes These guys might be ok driving a truck or getting the General his coffee................but up front, against battle hardened veteran Ukrainian units.....simply more cannon fodder to throw into the meat grinder.

Just to flesh this out a bit..... Moskava is a Slava class Guided Missile Cruiser.......that earlier carried out the well-publicized attack on Snake Island It is currently the sole vessel in the Russian fleet equipped with wide-area air defences, providing cover to other vessels during their operations, which have included coastal bombardments and amphibious feints. In the absence of the Moskva, Russia will find it more risky to conduct similar operations. After the Russian takeover of Crimea, the Ukrainians invested in a number of Neptune anti-ship systems, which has the R-360 anti-ship cruise missile, capable of striking targets at reported ranges of up to 180 miles and has the capacity to fly at sea-skimming altitudes to evade radar detection. It also uses GPS guidance in tandem with inertial guidance to improve its accuracy and uses an onboard active radar seeker to detect its target in its final stages before impact. The Ukrainians claim 2 hits on Moskava with this weapon. If true, this is a crippling blow to operations in the Black Sea. Or Shoigu fell out of a open window.......

Committee member : "Please state your full name" Jared Kushner: "5th"

Once a useful idiot.... Trump calls on Putin to release dirt on Hunter Biden https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/29/trump-putin-hunter-biden-00021223 Always a useful idiot... Russian newscaster calls for ‘regime change’ in U.S., reinstatement of ‘partner’ Trump https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/30/russian-newscaster-calls-regime-change-us-reinstat/

Russian troops are being told that war has to be over by 9 May https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/03/24/7334270/ Then Putin can have own his big victory parade, on Victory Day.

Russia to focus on 'liberating' Donbass region as it says first phase of invasion mostly complete "The main objectives of the first stage of the operation have generally been accomplished," says Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Russian General Staff's Main Operational Directorate. "The combat potential of the armed forces of Ukraine has been considerably reduced, which makes it possible to focus our core efforts on achieving the main goal - the liberation of Donbass." Translation: Our plan A has become a abject and miserable failure. Plan B is to focus dwindling military resources on the rest of Donbass, so we might have some form of "victory" to declare.

Correction: its 6 Generals, and a Naval Deputy Commander...........

Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev - a top commander who bragged the war would be over 'in a few hours' is killed in Ukrainian strike 5th General to be killed by Ukrainian forces.

Russia's army TV station Zvezda reporting on the arrival of the LST Orsk at the Russian-occupied port facility in the city of Berdyansk: “The southern flank of the special operation can now receive anything, including armor and ammunition, at any time,” “The port, and the entire city, are under reliable protection of the Russian air defenses.” That is until somehow.......the Ukrainians blew it up! https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/03/24/russian-ship-destroyed-berdyansk-berman-es-intl-lon-vpx.cnn

In truth, Russian soldiers have been used as cannon fodder......... since Peter the Great

As many as 40K Russian troops killed, wounded, held prisoner or missing: NATO https://thehill.com/policy/international/599431-as-many-as-40k-russian-troops-killed-wounded-held-prisoner-or-missing

After WW2, when Russian soldiers who surrendered to the Germans attempted to return home - they were declared "traitors to the Motherland" and dealt with accordingly....

A day later, the report was taken down and now they claim their website was "hacked" Given this was a pro-Putin site to begin with.......the actual casualty figures have to be pretty bad. For the Russians, it is one thing to have an army 4 times larger than your opponent - but another, to be able to mobilize them all in one place. They may be scraping the bottom of the barrel, logistically.....at this rate.

Rebuilding the 4th line....

Russia calls for Mariupol surrender, citing 'terrible humanitarian catastrophe' https://thehill.com/policy/international/598971-russia-calls-for-mariupol-surrender-citing-terrible-humanitarian

Simultaneously....

Putin's soldiers are 'looking for Ukrainian ammunition so they can shoot themselves in the leg and get sent home, intercepted Russian phone call reveals' Vladimir Putin's men allegedly want to shoot themselves in the leg and go home Intercepted phone call reveals Moscow's men are seeking Ukrainian ammunition US believes Moscow has lost up to 28,000 soldiers since the start of the invasion https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10623635/Putins-soldiers-looking-Ukrainian-ammunition-shoot-home.html

After some analysis.....have figured out what the 3 main sources of pro-Putin propaganda are: Channel 1(RUS) Rossiya-1 (RUS) Fox News (USA)

New idiot contender: Reading just the article title........ the letters R and GOP flashed into my head. And of course, once again...... Pundit ripped for criticizing Zelensky's attire for address https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/598424-pundit-ripped-for-criticizing-zelenskys-attire-for-address