The Financial Times is reporting that Ukraine has agreed to a minerals deal with the U.S.
Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500bn in potential revenue from exploiting the resources.
Although the text lacks explicit security guarantees, the officials argued that they had negotiated far more favourable terms and depicted the deal as a way of broadening the relationship with the US to shore up Ukraine’s prospects after three years of war.
“The minerals agreement is only part of the picture. We have heard multiple times from the US administration that it’s part of a bigger picture,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and justice minister who has led the negotiations, told the Financial Times on Tuesday.
If the entire plant has shut down, that means a loss of about 5% of Russia’s refining output.
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⚡️Russia's Ryazan oil refinery halts operations following drone strike, Reuters reports.
Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery suspended operations after a Ukrainian drone attack set its main crude distillation unit, CDU-6, on fire, industry sources reported on Feb. 24.
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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) February 24, 2025 at 8:47 PM
A Ukrainian drone takes out an S-300 air-defense missile system.
One of the two Russians gets out a fire extinguisher. Doesn’t seem too smart to get close to burning missiles. Both these guys deserve Darwin awards.
After the defeat, the drone was landed in order to observe "how it burns", two Russians from the crew of the system became very interested in what flew to them, they came to look and as a bonus 2 died!”
It must be Blow Up Russian Air Defense Day.
Bavovna
Ukrainian gunners take down two Shaheds.
Ukraine cancels Russia’s Starlink service.
Ukraine cancels another 1,300 Russians.
When it comes to drones, Ukraine is the Mother of Inventions.
It does need instructions sent to it, but Ukraine has limited that to one ping only.
The design consisted of a typical tubular body, but with a large keel and horizontal stabilizers amidships. Thrusters are mounted on the end of each horizontal stabilizer. Intuitively, these are used for steering as well as propulsion. This should allow significant agility. If the mast is always above water then, technically, you could argue that it’s a semi-submersible. In this case however that distinction may be unhelpful. It’s a weaponized UUV.
This is a natural evolution of Ukraine’s maritime drones which are uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) packed with explosives. Being an underwater vehicle it is less prone to detection and harder to neutralize with gunfire. Its warhead is also impacting below the waterline so may be more likely to sink its target.
Germany starts beating plowshares back into swords.
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German company Rheinmetall plans to repurpose two automotive plants in Germany to produce defense equipment, anticipating increased spending amid tensions with the US. This comes after calls at the Munich Security Conference for the EU to develop a stronger defense.
www.reuters.com/markets/euro...
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) February 25, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Germany steps up.
The RCH 155 (RCH stands for remote-controlled howitzer) can fire while in motion.
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Germany to send 370,000 artillery shells to Ukraine in 2025, Major General Christian Freuding confirmed. Six RCH 155 howitzers will also arrive this year, with training already underway. Germany will also train 10,000 Ukrainian troops, from medics to snipers.
www.bundeswehr.de/de/aktuelles...
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) February 25, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Canada steps up.
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🇨🇦 Canada imposes new sanctions on Russia: 76 individuals and entities linked to Russia’s military-industrial complex, deportation of Ukrainian children, propaganda operations, top officials, and oligarchs close to Putin are now sanctioned.
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— MAKS 24 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) February 25, 2025 at 2:09 AM
The key phrase here is “at its current pace.”
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❗️ Without U.S. military aid, Ukraine has enough weapons to fight at its current pace until summer — WSJ writes. European partners aim to fill the gap, while Ukraine currently supplies itself with about 55% of its needed weaponry.
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) February 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
This shouldn’t shock anyone.
When you are afraid of your own army.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, this is not a bad turnout for a town of 3,000 and during a snowstorm. Check out the guy at the very end of the video.
This asshole can fuck all the way off.
Ditto for this asshole.
Vucic is the president of Serbia and is referring to the UN vote yesterday in which the US voted against a resolution condemning Russia along with the likes of Belarus, North Korea and Eritrea.Serbia voted yes.
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Vučić apologized to Russia for voting in favour of the UN resolution condemning Russian aggression. He said it was done "by mistake." Peskov responded that such swift apologies "appeal to them."
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) February 25, 2025 at 3:28 AM
The 7th Cavalry heads to battle.
Maybe Russia should start training its soldier in how to joust.
The statue commemorates the Battle of Poltava in 1709 when Tsar Peter the Great defeated the Swedish army in the Great Northern War. Back then Sweden was a major European power.
What the hell is that thing?
Don’t laugh dudes, y’all are gonna be driving that thing over a land mine one day soon.
I want that guy’s hat.
Damn, that’s cold — and I’m not referring to the snow and ice.
The car doesn’t drive over her but it knocks her out of the way. This is in Khabarovsk, which is a city in Russia Far East near the border with China.
So, basically, Ukraine is doing what the US has been doing for decades.
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🇺🇦 Kyiv rejects lowering the draft age from 25 to 18 despite US pressure. Instead, it’s launching a new approach: Starting today, Ukraine offers young volunteers €23K, social benefits & elite training if they enlist before 25.
www.politico.eu/article/ukra...
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) February 12, 2025 at 6:58 AM
I like it. It’s simple, bold and will definitely bring about peace.
Meanwhile, at the drive-thru. 😂
Bono and The Edge have been longtime supporters of Ukraine.
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On the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of #Ukraine, U2 vocalist Bono performed an excerpt from Taras Shevchenko's poem "To the Dead, the Living, and the Unborn..." to the accompaniment of a piano.
He called Shevchenko the poet who defined the concept of "Ukrainian-ness."
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— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) February 25, 2025 at 8:49 AM
And finally, this week is Maslenitsa, which I learned today is a week-long pre-Lent celebration in which Ukrainians and others of Slavic origin indulge in foods that will be avoided during Lent, like butter and cheese.
It’s kind of like Mardi Gras without the parades and drunken foolishness.
