Let’s take a short break in coverage of the war in Ukraine to check in on how Russia and its puppet regime in Syria are doing.
Uh oh, things look bad for the bad guys.
But surely Russian’s crack troops will come to the rescue, right?
Well, surely the Assad forces got all their equipment out of Aleppo safely, right?
Don’t worry, Assad. Russia has lots of Scooby Doo vans and Chinese golf carts they can send you.
OK, but surely things are going well for Russia’s pals in Georgia after their big electoral victory.
Back in Ukraine, the Yak is back!
The Yak-52, which costs mere hundreds of dollars per flight hour, presents a cost-effective solution against drones valued around $100,000. In a remarkable three-month period starting May, the aircraft reportedly shot down at least a dozen Russian drones, with increasing kill markings documenting its effectiveness, Forbes notes.
The plane’s return follows a four-month absence after Russian forces apparently attempted to destroy its potential home airfield in July. Fresh photos and videos might provide further insights, though the crew might be cautious about publicizing their operations.
Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate has been so impressed with the Yak-52’s performance that they have begun training gunners to hunt Russian unmanned aerial vehicles using locally-made Aeroprakt A-22 sport planes.
Two thousand Russians in one day.
So, what’s going on with the ruble today?
Tsar Vladimir says no need to panic. 🤣
Russian authorities are trying to stem panic over the ruble’s sharp fall this week, with the central bank forced to intervene on Wednesday to support the currency.
The ruble weakened to 114 against the greenback on Wednesday, hitting its lowest level since March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russia’s central bank (CBR) was forced to intervene on the day to prop up the ruble,
saying it would halt foreign purchases on the domestic currency market for the rest of the year “in order to reduce the volatility of financial markets.”
Following the intervention, the ruble was trading at 110 against the dollar on Thursday morning.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the situation earlier, saying there was no need to panic about the depreciation of the ruble and that the currency’s fluctuations were affected by budget payments and seasonal shifts.
Did Russia promote a new landing ship to submarine?
Bavovna!
That’s a few thousand dollars worth of drones to take out a multi-million dollar radar.
The first drone in this video waits by the side of the road until a Scooby van passes by.
Something’s burning in Crimea.
Something’s also burning in Rostov.
I predict failure for this.
* The frontlines would be frozen by a ceasefire, and a demilitarized zone imposed.
* For agreeing to this, Russia would get limited sanctions relief, and full relief only when a peace deal is signed that is to Ukraine’s liking.
* A levy on Russian energy exports would pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
* Ukraine would not be asked to give up on reclaiming occupied territory, but it would agree to pursue it through diplomacy alone.
* It accepts "this would require a future diplomatic breakthrough which probably will not occur before Putin leaves office."
Lukashenko belongs in the dock at The Hague.
Oops.
Russian "Z-blogger" Olga Kurlaeva published a post yesterday in which soldiers of the Belgorod territorial defense forces from the BARS detachment allegedly fired at a Ukrainian Furia reconnaissance UAV.
But later, other 'Z-bloggers' found out that it was a friendly drone of soldiers from the Russian North grouping of troops, which cost more than 10 million rubles. Kurlaeva deleted her post.
Zelenskyy makes a key appointment.
Imagine getting shot because you drove your personal car.
May they rest in peace, home where they belong.
They refuse to be terrorized.
When you don’t have your game console, you have to improvise.
Dance Party Ukraine!
Love conquers all.
