Short summary of the night (13.10.2023 01.55 Ro/UA time):
1. #Avdiivka, because everyone asks me about this sector and are scared. From the visually confirmed losses, the Russians lost in 48 hours like this (thank you @AndrewPerpetua for your analysis):
- 15 x tanks (we have enough for everyone: T-90M, T-80V, T-80VM, T-72, T-72B, T-72B3M, T-62M) We were still missing T-55 and we had them all on the list since WWII.
- 30 x APC/IFV (and here we have everything: MT-LB, MT-LBT, BMP-1, BMP-2, BMP-3, BMD-2, BTR and others)
- 14 x artillery and MSLR (all for all of us here too: D-20, D-30, 2S5 Giatsint, Giatsint-B, 2S7 Pion (!!!), Msta-B, Msta-S, Grad MSLR)
- Russian human losses amount to almost 1000.
- The Russian southern attack was a total failure. From the north they advanced in some areas 200 meters or in others 300 meters.
- The losses are even higher higher than at the shameful Vuhledar - Russian Winter Offensive and even higher than the losses of last summer's laughing stunt with the crossing over Siversky Donets, when the Russians lost an entire BTG (Battalion Tactical Group), the formula used then for naming battle groups (they have since changed tactics and organization).
Personal opinion: for those who don't know where Avdiivka is, look it up on maps. It's a suburb of Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk Oblast. This town of about 32,000 inhabitants before the war, has been under constant attack since: (WARNING!) 2014! It is truly a fortress. Since 24 February it has been constantly bombed, and now (meaning at the time of writing) the town with 3,000 inhabitants in it is being bombed with phosphorus bombs.
It is absolutely incredible and almost unimaginable how the Russians put zero value on their troops, attacking totally disorganized and senselessly in an attempt to encircle the fortress town on the edge of Donetsk. The disregard for the lives of those men in every single armoured vehicle, the hundreds of infantrymen simply pulverised by Ukrainian artillery shows me that those who run the Russian Army not only don't care, but indicate to me that they have a sense of contempt for the lives of those they lead.
As I wrote in yesterday's analysis, one of the reasons for the slowdown of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Orihiv-Tokmak area is precisely the valuing of soldiers' lives. The Ukrainians understand better, at least that is what they have shown us for years, that life is the most important and they sacrifice the "war show" for the global audience.
2. Bakhmut:
For those who haven't heard yet, the legendary 92nd Kholodnyi Yar Brigade is back in the Bakhmut Theater of Operations. Alongside the legendary Separate Assault Brigade Azov 3. In the south, the AFU is advancing towards Opytne and into Kurdyumivka.
Personal Opinion: seeing that 93 has entered and is not rotating Assault Azov 3 indicates to me that the Russians will have a very hard time holding the southern flank. Harder and harder.
I'm also leaving a picture of a Ukrainian soldier (for those who don't know) interviewed in the trenches last year, expounding his opinion of the Russian Army in general.
Any retweet, like and comment is apreciated!
Slava Ukraini!
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Trump's proposed new mineral deal for Ukraine is nothing more, nothing less, than the robbery of Ukraine and its future, while at the same time being an attempt by the Trump Administration to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union.
🧵THREAD🧵
2/16 It is probably the most important topic in the coming days and one that will shape the future of the war in Ukraine and indirectly the future of the world, so I recommend you to be interested in what I am about to write not only me but all those who will discuss this topic and have an understanding of the events in Ukraine.
The 3rd proposed agreement, American Style Robbery.
3/16 I have read most of the 55 pages of the document and absolutely nothing I have read seems to be done in good faith, for lasting peace in Ukraine, but is 19th century imperialist-style exploitation. There is no mention in the 55 pages of any kind of guarantees or security assurances, which President Zelensky has been talking about since he came up with the proposal during the Biden Administration.
Valeri Zaluzhnyi, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: 'I received a phone call from Romania asking me not to mention that Shahed drones are falling there [on the territory of Romania]. They said . I told them to shoot them down, you only have 40 F-16s". 🧵👇
2/20 1. First of all, regarding the credibility of the statement, which damages Romania's image extremely seriously: I am absolutely convinced that the information provided by Zaluzhnyi is true and I argue: when the first drones fell in Plauru and Ceatalchioi (Tulcea Region, Romania), I remember as yesterday that I was talking to the Ukrainian side who at 5 am told me about the event and all day our side was denying it, up to the highest level. It was on September 4, 2023.
3/20 On September 9 I had a podcast on Buhnici (you'll see immediately why the timing is relevant), and in Romania there was a huge denial campaign on the one hand and minimization (damage control) on the other. On Digi24, it was retired Romanian General Bălăceanu saying that NO drone exploded over Romania, while on the screen the drone explosion over Romania was shown. Bălăceanu's statement and the replayed video were simultaneous, in a dystopian contradiction that made me scream at the TV with rage.
1/7 An extraordinary achievement! This morning the Ukrainians successfully hit the Engels-2 air base in the Saratov region. Part of the Tu-22M3, Tu-95MS, Tu-160 strategic bombers are stationed there.
There they are loaded with Kh-101 and Kh-55 cruise missiles, as well as KAB and FAB guided bombs. The strategic base is located 700 km from the Ukrainian border. ⤵️
2/7 The initial and secondary blasts scattered debris over a 5km radius and shattered the windows of a hospital 8km away. These are indications, in addition to video footage, that the attack on the base was successful.
3/7 OSINT experts estimate that the strike was on the ammunition depot (so where the missiles were) which is close to the bomber fuel depot (because, isn't it always a good idea to put bombs next to kerosene). It is estimated that at least one Tu-160 and one Tu-95MS were damaged.
For Ukrainians and for those of us who have been in Ukraine for a longer period, it is also a symbolic success.
While Ukraine has shifted the dynamics of the war in its favor, Putin says he would agree to Ukraine and the Trump Administration's 30-day ceasefire proposal IF! that ceasefire would lead to a lasting peace. And you didn't really believe him, did you? 🧵
2/13 russia has handed the Trump Administration a list of demands for this lasting peace to take place: removing Ukraine from the path to NATO membership, international recognition of the illegally occupied regions, namely Crimea, Lugansk, Donetsk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhe, and stopping all military aid to Ukraine.
These demands are, what in the negotiations are called "non-starter" conditions, representing absurd demands for the other side, being just PR smoke, behind which are hidden the real intentions, those of not reaching a lasting peace.
3/13
2. The Kremlin must be wishing for a temporary ceasefire at the moment, because Ukraine has managed in recent weeks to escape the imminent encirclement of Pokrovsk.
For more than 2 weeks, 6 settlements on both flanks of the strategic city in the Donbas region have been liberated. In the Kupyansk sector, 2 more settlements were liberated in the last few days and the Russians had to retreat several kilometers from what seemed an endless offensive.
What's really happening in Romania? I, along with others, have to answer this question because our institutions are severely deficient in communication, leaving Romania trapped between Elon Musk’s fake news and Russian active measures orchestrated by the FSB/SVR.
The beginning: In October 2024, during the candidate validation process for the Romanian presidential election, the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR—consider it similar to the U.S. Supreme Court for reference) invalidated the candidacy of Diana Ivanovici Șoșoacă.
2/9 She is a Member of the European Parliament, a Putin supporter, a frequent visitor to the Russian Embassy in Romania, and leader of a far-right party with fascist-leaning yet paradoxically neo-communist views. Anti-Ukraine and all that comes with it.
The CCR ruled that Șoșoacă had violated Romanian laws regarding the promotion of antisemitism and oppressive-criminal regimes. At that time, the far-right in Romania had three candidates in the race: George Simion, Diana Șoșoacă, and Călin Georgescu.
3/9 They shared similar extremist backgrounds, splitting extremist votes among them. However, after CCR (an institution widely regarded as overly politicized) disqualified Diana Șoșoacă, anti-system pressure intensified.
In the election held on November 24, Călin Georgescu, virtually unknown to 90% of Romania’s population just days before, won the first round with 21%, followed by Elena Lasconi, the pro-democratic candidate from the USR party (pro-NATO, pro-Ukraine, pro-USA).
Donald Trump mentioned the Republic of Moldova in last night's State of The Union speech. Not in a good way, but in a bad way. Not in the transatlantic sense, but in the Moscow sense.
With each passing day, Donald Trump moves closer to realizing the Kremlin's ambitions from the letter Putin sent to NATO in December 2021, months before the invasion of Ukraine. In case you don't remember it, I'll remind you of some of the demands considered absurd by the civilized world at the time:
2/12
1. In the first chapter, titled "Security Measures for the Russian Federation from NATO":
1.1 NATO not to welcome any new states into the alliance; 1.2 NATO not to offer arms to Ukraine or any state that joined the alliance after 1997; 1.3 To prohibit any NATO military activity in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus or Central Asia; 1.4 The re-establishment of a consultative mechanism along the lines of the Russia-NATO Council and the implementation of a NATO-Russia hotline;
2. In the second chapter, titled "US-Russia Security Safeguards Treaty":
3/12
2.1 Neither country shall implement security actions that undermine the security interests of the other; 2.2 The US must make every effort to ensure that NATO does not welcome other states into the alliance; 2.3 A ban on US intermediate-range ballistic missiles on EU territory;