Oorlog in Oekraïne #907 Kerststeun

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First Leopard 2 tanks repaired in Lithuania to return to Ukraine
The first Leopard 2 tanks had been repaired in Lithuania and would be sent back to the front lines in Ukraine, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry announced on Dec. 15.

Ukraine has received dozens of German-made Leopard 2 tanks in military support from partners, with many already seeing combat.

Lithuania set up a repair hub for A5 and A6 models damaged in Ukraine, the only European country to do so.

"Having arrived from the frontlines, these tanks are now ready to make an impactful return," the ministry wrote on the social media platform X.

Two repaired Leopard tanks were test-driven on Dec. 15 to showcase the result of the work, the AFP reported.

These tanks are among the first repaired in Lithuania and are expected to reach Ukraine next month.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas praised the Lithuanian military and German defense industry for their work on the tanks.

A repair center for other Leopard 2 models has also been opened in Poland, with a batch of tanks arriving in Gliwice earlier in December.

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Russian gas giant Gazprom makes £39m profit in North Sea
ssian energy giant Gazprom earned ¤45m (£39m) from its gas field in the North Sea last year, accounts show.

Gazprom has been producing gas from the Sillimanite field, which is spread across UK and Dutch waters, since 2020.

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats said it was "totally unacceptable" that gas from UK territory was supporting "Putin's illegal war against Ukraine".

The government said it would "ratchet up economic pressure" on Russia.

The Sillimanite field, which is 200km from the Dutch coast, is operated in a joint venture between Russian firm Gazprom and German company Wintershall. Gas produced from the field is taken onshore in the Netherlands.

While there is no suggestion the arrangement is illegal, the UK, the US and the EU have introduced tough economic sanctions designed to restrict Russia's ability to profit from energy exports, aimed at limiting its ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

A number of Gazprom executives, including the chief executive Alexei Miller, are under sanctions from the UK government, though Gazprom itself is not. The company still supplies gas to continental Europe via pipelines, though the volumes are much reduced since the war began.

Accounts show that Gazprom International UK, a subsidiary of the Russia energy giant, made a pre-tax profit of ¤45m in 2022, and paid a ¤41m dividend to Gazprom International Projects BV, the company's immediate owner in the Netherlands. A further dividend of ¤1.7m was paid in June this year.

The company's ultimate owner is PJSC Gazprom, based in Moscow.

Gazprom is majority-owned by the Russian state, and is the country's largest taxpayer, contributing $80bn (£63bn) to the Russian government, according to the state news agency TASS. It has also recruited and financed its own militias which have fought on the frontline in Ukraine.

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The company's total tax bill was ¤29m, divided between the UK and Dutch governments. This includes ¤4m under the UK windfall tax imposed on energy companies after prices surged following the war in Ukraine, and ¤5m under the Dutch equivalent.

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Pro-Ukrainian Volunteers from the Freedom of Russia Legion Execute Covert Mission, Striking at the Heart of Russia’s Fuel Reserves: Voronezh Oil Depot Blown Up in Anti-Putin Move
Voronezh, Russia – December 15, 2023: Pro-Ukrainian volunteers associated with the Freedom of Russia Legion (LSR) have claimed responsibility for a recent explosion at an oil depot in Voronezh, Russia.

The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, December 12, has sparked a wave of intrigue and controversy surrounding the clandestine activities of these volunteers.

The Freedom of Russia Legion, in a bold move, released footage of the explosion on their Telegram channel, proudly announcing their involvement in the sabotage.

The video captures the destruction of a Rosneft fuel tank, leaving authorities scrambling to address the repercussions of this act of defiance.

Russian volunteers from LSR provided commentary on the attack, emphasizing the stark contrast between the complexities of destroying enemy fuel on the front lines and the simplicity of sabotaging resources in the rear.

The statement, laden with symbolic language, underscored their belief that Russia’s natural resources should serve the interests of the nation, not fueling what they referred to as a “criminal war.”

Contrary to the claims made by the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of the Ministry of Defense, the Freedom of Russia Legion asserted that the explosion was not an accident but a deliberate act of resistance against the Putin regime.

The HUR initially reported the incident as the result of a fuel tank blowing up due to unknown opponents of the regime, only to later fabricate a narrative involving “training units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.”

According to Russian authorities, Voronezh rescuers, during a supposed training exercise, successfully prevented ignition followed by an explosion.

However, the Freedom of Russia Legion contradicted this official version, affirming their role in the destruction of the fuel tank and sending warm greetings to the unknown patriots involved in their Motherland.This incident comes as a continuation of the tensions between pro-Ukrainian groups and Russian forces.

In late May, members of the RDK and the Freedom of Russia Legion crossed into Russia’s Belgorod region from Ukraine using military vehicles, causing widespread disruption and prompting Russia to deploy jets and artillery to repel the armed attackers.

Also Read: President Zelenskyy Honors the Memory of Fallen Ukrainian Soldiers in Lviv Military Cemetery, Recalling Stories of Their Bravery

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for the HUR, confirmed that these groups launched an operation in the Belgorod Region with the objective of “liberating these territories from the so-called Putin regime” and establishing a “security zone” along the border to protect Ukrainian civilians from further Russian bombardment.

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Hungary can stop Ukrainian accession later, Orbán says
Hungary can stop Ukrainian accession later, Orbán says
Speaking on Hungarian state radio this morning, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said he tried for hours to convince European leaders not to sign off on launching accession negotiations with Kyiv.

Orbán said the leaders had several arguments he had to take into account:

• “They are 26, and I’m alone.”
• “They want to give Ukraine through this decision the encouragement needed to continue the war, and they asked that I don’t obstruct them in this.”
• “But their decisive argument was that Hungary doesn’t lose anything with this … If we don’t want Ukraine to be a member of the European Union, then the Hungarian parliament votes it down. And until the issue gets to the parliaments, it’s a very, very long process, and as they counted and I did, there are about 75 occasions when the Hungarian government can stop this process. And they said that if during the negotiations there is something which hurts Hungary’s interests, I stop it.”

Orbán also reiterated that Hungary did not want to take part in the “bad decision” and that is why he left the room while leaders made the decision to open accession talks.

“Later we can stop this process, if needed we pull the handbrake,” he said.

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Lawmakers stuffed a provision into the Pentagon funding bill that makes it all but impossible for Trump to leave NATO
• Congress has passed a sweeping law that could spell trouble for Trump if he wins in 2024.
• Lawmakers included a provision in the $886 billion Pentagon funding bill that makes it all but impossible to leave NATO.
• Trump has not said he would withdraw the US from NATO, but there are fears he could do so.

A brief provision in the massive $886 billion bill funding the Pentagon will likely kill former President Donald Trump or any potential future president's ambitions to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Sens. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, teamed up to muscle their bill — which would require an act of Congress or Senate approval to leave NATO — into what is often deemed a must-pass bill that funds servicemembers and outlines national security priorities. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law. The Senate passed the overall legislation 87 to 13. The House passed it on Friday on a 310-118 vote.

"The Senate's vote today to pass my bipartisan bill to prevent any U.S. President from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO reaffirms U.S. support for this crucial alliance that is foundational for our national security," Kaine said in a statement after the Pentagon funding bill passed the Senate. "It also sends a strong message to authoritarians around the w
Kaine and Rubio failed to pass their bill when Trump was in the White House.

Trump is not mentioned directly in the provision. He has also not explicitly promised to withdraw from what was originally a Cold War-era alliance. Nonetheless, there are persistent fears that if Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, he will withdraw the US from NATO. As The New York Times pointed out recently, Trump's campaign website does include this vague sentence, "We have to finish the process we began under my administration of fundamentally re-evaluating NATO's purpose and NATO's mission."orld that the free world remains united."

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the provision.

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Melitopol guerrillas disrupt key Russian supply route, bomb freight train carrying ammunition, fuel
Ukrainian guerrillas in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhya Oblast sabotaged a railroad train that transports ammunition and fuel from Crimea to Melitopol and Dniprorudne daily, the Special Operations Forces' National Resistance Center or NRC reported on Dec. 15.

This train was transporting ore, grain, and damaged equipment from the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhzhya Oblast to Crimea when a bomb went off under it.

As a result of the sabotage, railroad and a diesel locomotive with cars were damaged, the NRC said.

The explosion occurred at 8 a.m. right next to a group of Russian Federal Security Service agents. The occupation police surrounded the explosion site and searched the surrounding area, the NRC said.

The occupation administration is trying to conceal the fact of the railroad explosion, as they are unsuccessfully trying to find the guerrillas, the center said.

The search involves FSB officers, police collaborators, dog handlers, and even crime lab experts.

This is the eleventh successful railroad sabotage operation in 2023, the National Resistance Center said. The last time the Resistance Movement successfully bombed a Russian train was on Oct. 13.

"The current sabotage is far from the last because it is the railway that plays a key role in the Russian logistics model," the statement reads.

The Russian army captured Melitopol on Feb. 26, 2022. After the occupation, it was appointed the so-called "administrative center" of the Russian-occupied part of ZaporizhzhyaOblast.

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 10:02 schreef spicymchaggis het volgende:

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Je hebt echt geen idee van de gevolgen voor de Europese burgerbevolking en wereldeconomie wanneer de NAVO door de Russen tot een oorlog gedwongen wordt hè?

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 10:34 schreef Opnaarutrecht het volgende:

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De Russische ratten maken in een conventionele oorlog geen schijn van kans tegen de NAVO.

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 10:02 schreef spicymchaggis het volgende:

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Je hebt echt geen idee van de gevolgen voor de Europese burgerbevolking en wereldeconomie wanneer de NAVO door de Russen tot een oorlog gedwongen wordt hè?

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 10:50 schreef spicymchaggis het volgende:

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Desondanks kunnen ze enorme schade aanrichten en ontelbare Europese doden veroorzaken en daar zit niemand op te wachten. Daarom is het dan ook van cruciaal belang dat Oekraïne westerse militaire steun blijft ontvangen, de Europese krijgsmacht en op sterkte gebracht worden en dat er nou eindelijk eens echt werk gemaakt gaat worden van de derussificatie van het westen.

Die ratten zitten nog met allerlei spionnen en bedrijven in het westen om sancties te omzeilen. Bovendien lopen de vrouwen, minaressen en kinderen van de Russische elite nog altijd doodleuk vrij rond in het westen. Die hadden al lang uitgezet of in interneringskampen opgesloten moeten worden omdat ze een bedreiging voor onze veiligheid vormen.

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 11:58 schreef slashdotter3 het volgende:
Interessante uitleg over de werking van een granaat

Ukrainian Deputy Detonates Hand Grenades In Council Meeting

These are flashbangs. Not actual grenades if they were it would be 29 dead people.

Go to r/combat footage and watch a few drone grenade drops. They are very lethal in the open. In a closed space you stand no chance. The way grenades kill are by the pressure change outside the body completely ruptures all your organs and then the shrapnel tears 30 odd holes in your body.

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Soorten handgranaten

Defensie heeft de volgende soorten handgranaten:

de scherfhandgranaat is bedoeld om tegenstanders buiten gevecht te stellen. De scherfwerking schakelt mensen uit tot op enkele meters van het springpunt. Na het verwijderen van de veiligheidsring en de veiligheidspin heeft de werper 4 á 5 seconden voordat het projectiel ontploft;

de aanvalshandgranaat is bedoeld om tegenstanders buiten gevecht te stellen. De ontploffing van de springlading zorgt voor een hevige knal en een grote blastwerking. Deze drukgolf schakelt mensen op korte afstand uit. Na het verwijderen van de veiligheidsring en de veiligheidspin heeft de werper 3 á 4 seconden voor het projectiel ontploft;

de handgranaat flits en knal (flashbang) is een niet-dodelijk projectiel dat wordt gebruikt om personen te desoriënteren, waardoor ze tijdelijk geen verzet kunnen bieden en aangepakt kunnen worden. Het Korps Commandotroepen, de Brigade Speciale Beveiligingsopdrachten (marechaussee) en eenheden in uitzendgebieden gebruiken deze handgranaat;

DRAMATIC ENDING: SWAT use flash-bang, rush suspects' car | ABC7

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 12:14 schreef spicymchaggis het volgende:

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Overspannen valt wel mee hoor, ik heb gewoon een gruwelijke kotshekel aan misdadige barbarenvolkeren als bijv. de Russen en Palestijnen. Die zouden wat mij betreft veel nietsontziender aangepakt moeten worden.

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 11:58 schreef slashdotter3 het volgende:
Interessante uitleg over de werking van een granaat

https://www.reddit.com/r/(...)es_hand_grenades_in/
Ukrainian Deputy Detonates Hand Grenades In Council Meeting

These are flashbangs. Not actual grenades if they were it would be 29 dead people.

Go to r/combat footage and watch a few drone grenade drops. They are very lethal in the open. In a closed space you stand no chance. The way grenades kill are by the pressure change outside the body completely ruptures all your organs and then the shrapnel tears 30 odd holes in your body.

If these there actually grenades there would have been no noise after they went off everyone would have been killed instantly from the pressure change

Primary Blast Injury

Primary blast injury is caused by the blast wave moving through the body. Since only high order explosives create a blast wave, primary blast injuries are unique to high order explosions. The blast wave causes damage to more extensively to air-filled organs. The resulting barotrauma can affect the lungs, auditory organs, the eye, brain, and gastrointestinal tract.

Blast ear – tympanic membrane rupture and middle ear damage

Blast lung – injury to the lung parenchyma, can have delayed symptom presentation

Blast brain – injury to brain parenchyma, even without direct injury to the head

Blast eye – rupture of the globe of the eye

Blast belly – injury causing abdominal hemorrhage and perforation (immediate and delayed). It can also cause injury to solid organs and testicular rupture.

All of these 29 people would have one or all of these injuries after 3 frag grenades going off within a foot of them in an enclosed room

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.(...)rointestinal%20tract.

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Op zaterdag 16 december 2023 12:31 schreef AchJa het volgende:

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Ook geen flashbangs, meneer vergeet nl. nog een type granaat en dat is de zg. aanvalshandgranaat (alleen blastwerking):
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Flashbangs zijn het zeker niet aangezien er dan geen doden waren gevallen, hooguit een paar lichtgewonden. Dit waren voor zover ik het kan beoordelen op de film aanvalshandgranten, wel blast- maar geen scherfwerking. En idd, als het scherfhandgranaten waren geweest was dat hele lokaal dood geweest.

Hier gooien ze twee flashbangs op het voorraam/motorkap van een auto en er is verder niks aan de hand:

DRAMATIC ENDING: SWAT use flash-bang, rush suspects' car | ABC7