tl;dr it's because of water. (It's always water isn't it?). This is the North Crimean Canal, dammed up since the Russian invasion of Crimea. Crimea is rapidly running out of water, and Russia needs this canal flowing again.
This is the canal's route, running from the Dnieper river across Crimea.
In 2014, after the Russian invasion, Ukraine decided the best option would be to cut Crimea off, so they dammed the canal.
Crimea is now running dangerously short on water, and the situation is quickly becoming untenable for the Russian occupation. ukrinform.net/rubric-polytic…
The dam is currently 16km from the border
BUT, the mouth of the canal is over 60km from the border
In order to successfully restore water to Crimea, Russia would probably have to retake this area
So, imagine if your this cheery looking fellow, Gen. Oleg Salûkov. Putin just popped into your office and told you that the canal must be taken ASAP. What would you do?
I'm going to work off the great @Liveuamap now. You already have Ukrainian defensive positions set up against rebel forces in the west, but they aren't in the best condition. In the south, Ukrainian troops could move in quickly at any sign of military mobilization. So no surprise
@Liveuamap If you know you can't surprise them, you have to overwhelm them. First, you have to tie down ready reserves in a quagmire to the east with the rebels. Give the rebels a bunch of armored vehicles (which has been happening over the past month) and make them distract the Ukrainians.
@Liveuamap Now, you probably have about enough troops to meet the 3:1 ratio against a dug in opponent, lets look at the local area.
@Liveuamap Good, this looks like a ready-made trap for any defender. Knock out the bridges over the Dneiper and the only way in or out is to the east. Make a hard push to the river and you can probably cut off most of the Ukrainian defenders. Then all you have to do is mop up any resistance
@Liveuamap From this, you can see how the Russian troop movements fit in. Sprinkle some airborne troops to capture important objectives, and the plan starts to come together. All in all, a very attractive proposition was probably placed on Putin's desk.
@Liveuamap Quick, easy war, complete destruction of your enemies' front line troops, and restoration of the water supply to Crimea.
Our wide-ranging investigation into the Vietnamese EV manufacturer relied on satellite imagery, AIS data, trade records, and on-the-ground reporting in multiple U.S. states and continents.
Vinfast, launched in 2017, is a Vietnam-based EV manufacturer. In the US, it sells the VF8, an electric SUV built outside of Haiphong.
The company went public in the US in 2023, initially soaring to a $200 billion market capitalization, but its value has since fallen 95%.
First, we had to find the transport link that Vinfast used to move its cars from Vietnam to the US. They may have made that just a bit easy.
Earlier tonight, Ukrainian drones successfully hit the Russian Novo Bryanskaya 750kv substation in Vygonichi, Bryansk Oblast.
The substation is currently ablaze.
"After a UAV attack, a substation in Vygonichi, Bryansk region, caught fire. According to the testimony of local residents (they share videos on social networks), before the fire, 5-6 explosions were heard, and air defense was operating in the air."
The House is planning to vote on the Ukraine, Israel, and Indo-Pacific aid bills on Saturday.
Big elements of the Ukraine aid bill as it stands today:
$13.7 billion in USAI money, $633 million for DOD-led research and development, and $34 billion for DOD expenses/procurement.
$7.9 billion for economic support
$300 million for the Ukrainian State Border Guard and National Police
$100 million for ‘‘Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs’’
$9.6 billion for the Foreign Military Financing Program
SEC. 505. (a) TRANSFER OF LONG-RANGE ATACMS REQUIRED
"As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall transfer long range Army Tactical Missile Systems to the Government of Ukraine"
Kherson Oblast, a Ukrainian Backfire K1 fixed wing bomber drone from the Angry Birds unit drops a pair of bomblets on a Russian Pantsir-S1, scoring a hit and setting fire to the SAM system.
Strike location (46.579437, 33.188713)
The Angry Birds unit went public in 2023 with its Backfire K1, a catapult-launched fixed-wing bomber drone with a payload of 6 kg.