Ukraine launched a drone (or possibly Long Neptune missiles) attack on Russia’s Engels-2 air base.
Engels is on the Volga River 700 km east of Kharkiv.
Makes you wonder what passes for air defense at an important facility like this one.
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🔥Explosions in Engels, likely at the airbase, with potential damage to aircraft. The Russian base reportedly housed three Tu-95MS and two Tu-160 bombers. Debris from the blast scattered up to 5 km, possibly damaging the planes. We’re waiting for satellite images to assess the full impact.
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) March 20, 2025 at 2:50 AM
It looks like Ukraine hit the ammo dump at the base where Kh-55/101 cruise missiles for the Tupelov bombers at the base are stored.
This video shows the blast wave from the initial explosion.
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Russian Telegram channels report the possible destruction of Russian missiles for Tu-95MS at the Engels airfield.
Reportedly, the explosion had a radius of up to 5 km, which could have caused damage to the bombers themselves, which were based at the attacked airfield.
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— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) March 20, 2025 at 5:26 AM
An update from whatever it is that is going on in the Belgorod area.
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🇺🇦 On March 18, 2025, Ukraine’s Air Force struck the command post of a unit from Russia’s 3rd Motorized Rifle Division (20th Army) near Demidovka, Belgorod region. The command post was completely destroyed. This facility was used for planning attacks on Sumy region.
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) March 20, 2025 at 10:26 AM
The village of Demidovka looks like not much more than a wide spot in the road.
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Despite Russian claims of control, Russian channels now report that Ukrainian forces have pushed past defensive lines near Demidovka, Belgorod region. Ukrainian forces are using lots of fiber optics.
"The enemy is expanding its control zones. IMR (engineering vehicle) is expanding the passage."
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) March 20, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Meanwhile, that oil pumping station is still burning.
Russia launched its own drone assault on civilians in Kupyansk and Kropyvnytsky.
“This is our home, bitch!”
The drone will find you.
Hell’s Angels get sent to hell.
Bavovna!
Another 1,400 Russians, 13 tanks and 43 artillery systems.
Putin’s plan to Russify occupied Ukraine proceeds.
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⚡️ Putin orders Ukrainians 'without legal status' to leave Russia, occupied territories by Sept. 10.
Ukrainian citizens residing in Russia and Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine must leave by Sept. 10 or "regulate their legal status," according to an official decree published on March 20.
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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) March 20, 2025 at 8:42 AM
What!?!? This can’t be possible.
Nobody wants to return to fabulous Russia?
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⚡️ Russia hasn't received requests from foreign companies seeking to return, Medvedev says.
“No one has officially applied yet. So, they are informally probing the ground,” Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, claimed.
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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) March 20, 2025 at 6:37 AM
More F-16s for Ukraine.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Speaking of Russia’s morale-boosting program.
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"Our commanders, when we surrendered, started finishing us off right away - using 'birds', mortars, shelling us to make sure we didn’t survive," – another captured Russian soldier describes how he was recruited and how many from his unit are left.
t.me/c/1377735387...
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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 20, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Russia has a new board game based on Monopoly in which places on the board are named for Ukrainian targets instead of Marvin Gardens or St. James Place.
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13/ It remains to be seen whether these games will be any more commercially successful than Russian movies about the war, which have been dismally unpopular. The 2023 film 'Witness' was a huge flop, costing 70-200 million rubles but making only 15 million at the box office. /end
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— ChrisO_wiki (@chriso-wiki.bsky.social) March 20, 2025 at 5:18 AM
4/ "The game immerses you in a world where the eastern cities welcome the liberators, and the central and western cities have succumbed to enemy propaganda, which makes their liberation a real challenge. Each of your decisions is a step towards victory or defeat."
5/ It requires the player to "manage a single currency, build bridges, restore infrastructure and supply battalions with resources" and comes with banknotes depicting Vladimir Putin, General Sergey Surovikin and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
The EU does not step up.
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EU leaders reaffirm support for Ukraine, but Hungary, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal obstructed Kaja Kallas' initial €40B military aid plan. Now, only €5B remains—and on a voluntary basis. Meanwhile, von der Leyen pushes for the ReArm Europe defense initiative.
www.lastampa.it/esteri/2025/...
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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) March 20, 2025 at 5:01 AM
I sure hope all the Trump supporters at defense firms like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon appreciate how Trump is boosting their sales.
Poland sounds like a country preparing for war.
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Polish Min of Interior: "Let’s be prepared for at least 3 days of survival w/o assistance from state structures. Let’s stock up on water, medicines, hygiene products, food, light sources, prepare charged power banks”
Transistor radios are recommended, which might be the only way to receive info
— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.bsky.social) March 20, 2025 at 9:57 AM
That’s a damn shame.
Rest in pieces.
2/ The channel was co-managed by a Russian in his 50s called Konstantin, callsign 'Donetsk'. On 7 March, another channel administrator wrote: "Hello everyone! I ask you to support Donetsk, a man of extraordinary destiny, this old man will outlive all of us young, luck is clearly on his side🫡"
3/ On 14 February, a month before 'Donetsk's' luck ran out, he wrote an account of his first-hand experiences as a stormtrooper. After returning from the front line, he got drunk and was thrown into a pit for three days as a punishment.
4/ He subsequently went on an assault that was thrown into chaos by Ukrainian drone attacks, before faking the capture of a Ukrainian village to keep his commanders happy.
5/ When the Ukrainians withdrew temporarily, the Russians moved into the destroyed village but were immediately targeted by Ukrainian artillery and had to retreat. The Russians' superiors suspected of them deserting and threatened and interrogated them after they returned.
6/ The men were released, but 'Donetsk' and his comrades found themselves having to use their own money and beg for donations to replace all the uniforms and equipment they had lost.
Donetsk then describes what happened after his punishment in the pit:
9/ "But then they gave me the finger, put me in a BMP and off we go for millions! We loaded up as usual, a full set of drones, cartridges, generators, wires, gum!
10/ "We are driving and around there are corpses, burned-out cars, BMPs, tanks, everyone's mugs are sour and we're starting to get fucked by this little flying thing, we are on the run, all the property is burning, we are pulling 300s [wounded], we don't have anything anymore,
11/ …only what our mother gave birth to, what we bought, and 8 magazines for automatic rifles. The electronic warfare doesn't work at all, the detector turned on at the very last moment and their pioneers with drones started chasing us like partisans.
Combat cats need their rest too.
