Oorlog in Oekraïne #973

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Putin hijacked Austria’s spy service. Now he's going after its government
Intelligence officials suspect Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek of colluding with the far-right Freedom Party on Moscow’s behalf.

VIENNA — The coup began with the sound of a doorbell.

Just after 8 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2018, Austrian police Commander Wolfgang Preiszler pressed the buzzer at the headquarters of the country’s domestic intelligence service and held his ID up to the security camera.

Within minutes, dozens of his colleagues armed with Glock pistols and a battering ram fanned out through the building in bullet-proof vests and balaclavas, seizing confidential data stored on the agency’s servers and sensitive documents lying on desks.

The incursion — pitting the police against the spy service, known as the BVT — unleashed a firestorm that shattered Austria’s reputation in the intelligence world and led to the agency’s closure.

More than six years later, the true scope of what transpired that day is only now coming into focus. Intelligence officials tell POLITICO that new evidence suggests the raid was part of a Moscow-led operation to discredit Austria’s spy services in order to rebuild them with new leadership under the Kremlin’s influence. Crucial to that effort, they say, was the junior partner in the government coalition at the time: the far-right, pro-Russia Freedom Party (FPÖ), which today is the most popular party in the country.

Last month, Austrian prosecutors revealed that the men believed to have laid the groundwork for the action were Russian agents directed by Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former chief operating officer of the collapsed payment processing firm Wirecard, who authorities say works for Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.

The suggestion of a Moscow-led conspiracy is explosive for a number of reasons. For one, it appears to have nearly succeeded. Were it not for the so-called Ibiza scandal in 2019 (in which the FPÖ’s then-leader was caught on video trying to sell political influence to a woman he believed to be the niece of a Russian oligarch), there may have been nothing to stop the plan from coming to fruition. Instead, the Ibiza affair triggered the government’s collapse, pushing the FPÖ into opposition where it has remained since.

Most worrying, however, is that the man ultimately responsible for the BVT raid, then-Interior Minister Herbert Kickl, now heads the FPÖ — which makes him a leading candidate to become Austria’s next chancellor after elections later this year. Though seasoned political observers insist Austria won’t become a Russian vassal under the FPÖ, a Kickl chancellorship would still play into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands, allowing the Kremlin to exert more influence over the country behind the scenes, and echoing its success in co-opting the likes of Hungary and Serbia.

“Putin would naturally be pleased by the ambiguity about Austria’s position on Ukraine and the EU that Kickl would bring,” said Christian Rainer, a veteran Austrian publisher and commentator. “The danger for Austria is that it would be completely isolated.”

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Partisans Uncover Russian T-72 Tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles in Occupied Crimea Freight Station
Recently, Atesh partisans have frequently observed Russian military equipment in Crimea, including tampering with tanks stationed at the Yevpatoria railway station.

The Atesh partisan movement reported on Telegram the unloading of a train carrying Russian military equipment at a freight station in Yevpatoria, occupied Crimea, including a platoon of T-72 tanks.

A new T-72 tank ranges from $3-4 million, depending on the configuration, while an older Soviet T-72 can cost as little as half a million dollars.

The partisans published photos also showing BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles. This equipment was discovered by an Atesh agent during reconnaissance.

The guerillas also spotted the unloading of wagons with ammunition.

“The occupiers are hiding behind civilian infrastructure, but we are monitoring the movements of the Russian military,” the partisans said. “We know exactly where to strike, and we share this information with the right people.”

In recent times, the Atesh partisans have frequently observed Russian military equipment in Crimea. Earlier instances include their tampering with Russian tanks stationed at the Yevpatoria railway station.

In late February the partisans documented the arrival of a significant fleet of Russian tanks at the Yevpatoria railway station. Atesh closely monitored the unloading process at Yevpatoria's Tovarna station, identifying more than 30 T-62 tanks. These Soviet-era models, produced before 1975, are now considered decommissioned in Russia.

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The Russian military dropped four more bombs on the Belgorod region in two days

Russian military aviation dropped four more high-explosive aerial bombs (FAB) on the Belgorod region in two days, sources in the region’s emergency services told the Astra telegram channel .

According to them, on May 22, a FAB-250 was found near a residential building on Lesnaya Street in the village of Yasnye Zori, Belgorod District. Residents of the street were evacuated.

The next day, May 23, FAB-250 fell on the territory of a hunting farm in the village of Polyana in the Shebekinsky urban district. On the same day, two more FAB-500s were discovered near the village of Pristen in the same district. There were no casualties in any case.

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In Buryatia, police killers were released to fight in the war with Ukraine a year after the verdict
Former police officers from Buryatia Evgeny Inkin and Dmitry Istomin, who received 17 and 18 years in prison for the rape and murder of two girls, signed contracts with the Russian army and went to war in Ukraine, People of Baikal report .

The release of Istomin and Inkin became known at the meeting of the Eighth Court of Cassation on May 22, at which the appeal against the verdict was considered. The convicts were not present at the trial, since by this time they had already been sent to the front. At the same time, the court upheld the guilty verdict for both.

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Op zaterdag 25 mei 2024 07:51 schreef Ulx het volgende:

Hebben die gasten geen GPS of z....oh wacht....

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Op zaterdag 25 mei 2024 09:08 schreef AchJa het volgende:

[..]
De Russen hebben natuurlijk GLONASS...

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Oekraïener (33) die Thierry Baudet sloeg met paraplu in Gent, hoeft niet voor rechter te verschijnen

GENT - De man die Thierry Baudet (FvD) vorig jaar tijdens een lezing in het Belgische Gent aanviel met een paraplu, hoeft niet voor de rechter te verschijnen.
De 33-jarige Oekraïener komt er vanaf met een waarschuwing en strikte voorwaarden.

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Op zaterdag 25 mei 2024 10:08 schreef Ulx het volgende:
[ x ]

De jammers werken niet overal even goed.

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Op zaterdag 25 mei 2024 12:18 schreef Ulx het volgende:

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Jammers sturen ook straling uit (duh). Het is dus ook mogelijk om daar weer maatregelen tegen te nemen. Het zal wel neerkomen op radarzoekers als die in de HARM zitten aan te passen en in een GLSDB te zetten. Staat er een jammer bij het doel gaat die als eerste de lucht in. Pakken de gewone het doel wel. Kost je een of twee extra raketjes, maar het zij zo.

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Op zaterdag 25 mei 2024 09:22 schreef Ulx het volgende:
Blijkbaar levert die dan niet altijd de juiste coördinaten.

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2024 20:08 schreef Discombobulate het volgende:

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Gaan we weer een patstelling in. En als het spul weer op is weer even wat erbij. En dan weer een patstelling in.

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Op zaterdag 25 mei 2024 12:18 schreef Ulx het volgende:
Kost je een of twee extra raketjes, maar het zij zo.

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Op zaterdag 25 mei 2024 12:18 schreef Ulx het volgende:

[..]
Jammers sturen ook straling uit (duh). Het is dus ook mogelijk om daar weer maatregelen tegen te nemen. Het zal wel neerkomen op radarzoekers als die in de HARM zitten aan te passen en in een GLSDB te zetten. Staat er een jammer bij het doel gaat die als eerste de lucht in. Pakken de gewone het doel wel. Kost je een of twee extra raketjes, maar het zij zo.

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Special JDAM-ER with Anti-EW Homing Head are Prepared to Transfer from U.S. to Ukraine

With the update from May 3rd, 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a $23.5 million contract awarded to Scientific Applications and Research Associates (SARA) company for "the acquisition of Home-on GPS Jam seekers" and the "integration of the extended range seekers into existing Joint Direct Attack Munition wing kits," The Drive reports with reference to the official release.

Such an enhanced weapon not only will be resistant to electronic warfare devices but also able to use the jamming signals against them by locking on the source of emissions as the target. The terms of the contract provide, in particular, that part of the ordered kits will be supplied to Ukraine, however, without detailing the exact quantity and delivery deadlines.

As noted by The Drive journalists, there is little public data about the Home-on GPS (or HOJ) kits. The first public appearance dates to 2018, when the SARA company announced the creation of kits for countering and defeating enemy electronic warfare equipment and its readiness to supply the product. The manufacturer revealed only the following details: the HOJ is compact enough, costs 10 times cheaper than its predecessors, and its component base allows for easy integration into guidance systems of any available precision-guided weapons for aircraft.

Importantly, such a technological innovation was at least tested under proving ground conditions. In December 2020, the U.S. Air Force conducted tests as part of the Golden Horde smart munitions program, during the trials the U.S. military practiced dropping a "swarm" of GBU-39/B guided aerial bombs, each of the munitions was equipped with a HOJ sensor by SARA. The results of these tests were considered successful.

The journalists note that the Pentagon awarded the contract for Home-on GPS anti-missile defense kits shortly after U.S. Under Secretary of Defense William LaPlante admitted that GLSDB bombs proved ineffective on the battlefield in Ukraine, precisely because of radio-electronic countermeasures deployed by russian forces.

At the same time, interestingly, the authors of this website don't rule out the possibility that the HOJ kits for the Ukrainian Armed Forces may in the future be integrated into AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles.