Oorlog in Oekraïne #1328 Bishkeke is net de USSR

quote:

? The Rassvet-3 satellites (which were supposed to create a similar Starlink communication system), which were launched in two batches (03/23/26 and 07/19/26) of 16 pieces each, were unable to reach the target orbit of ~800 km. None. That is, the mission failed.

The first batch hovered at an altitude of 510-540 km. One satellite did not perform a single maneuver and burned up in the atmosphere on June 6, and two more remained at an altitude of 350-370 km.

The second batch did not even reach this height - nine devices rose only to 313-332 km, that is, approximately 200 km lower than the first batch at the same stage. Two more did not maneuver at all, fell below 300 km and, according to observers, will leave orbit in the near future.

quote:

The 41st Unmanned Systems Regiment "Pilum" of the 1st Corps ꑭAZOV NGU attacking Russian logistics

quote:

On August 29th, meeting with staff and students at a university in Moscow, Vladimir Putin observed that orcas feed on polar bears. “That’s the food chain,” Russia’s president stated. “Children should be taught about this, so that they understand what kind of world we live in and why we are conducting the special military operation”—his term for Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The claim was fanciful: there is no known case of an orca eating a polar bear. But it provided some insight into Mr Putin’s predatory worldview. Recently NATO countries have become increasingly concerned about the direction his thoughts might be taking. Russia’s army has been largely stalemated for years, suffering tens of thousands of men killed or severely wounded each month. The war has become a ruinous contest of drone and missile attacks that, while devastating to Ukraine, are inflicting visible damage on Russia too. But Mr Putin shows no sign of backing off. The worry is that he may try to escape from what Russians call a tupik (dead-end) as he has in the past: by finding some new way to escalate the conflict.

The signs of Western anxiety are all around. On August 25th John Ratcliffe, the director of America’s CIA, unexpectedly flew to Moscow. Accounts differ on whether he went to warn Mr Putin not to attack NATO countries, or to deliver a bleak assessment of Russia’s prospects and persuade him to negotiate. Three days later Finland requested the help of Swedish aircraft and warships in monitoring its border with Russia for incursions. Germany is preparing to openly blame Russia for a drone attack at Leipzig’s airport on August 4th, and will probably impose further sanctions. On August 20th Romania says it destroyed a Russian naval drone that targeted a drilling platform in its waters. On August 25th Slovakia foiled an arson attack on a drone factory.
Meanwhile Mr Putin has ended his long silence over Ukraine’s increasingly successful drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and logistics centres, including warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest e-retailer. In an address on August 22nd he accused Ukraine of opening a “Pandora’s box” and promised “blowback on the most sensitive sectors of your economy”. Earlier that day, speaking to United Russia, the Kremlin’s political party, he dismissed any notion of ending the war. “The special military operation continues,” he vowed. “We will move only forward.”

Sources close to the Kremlin say that, after several weeks of consideration over the summer, he seems to have chosen to escalate. Indeed, a longtime associate of Mr Putin says he is likely to have seen Mr Ratcliffe’s visit as a sign of American weakness. That, the source said, was the president’s interpretation of the visit to Moscow in November 2021 by Bill Burns, Joe Biden’s CIA director, to warn him against invading Ukraine. He went ahead three months later.
No one can know what is inside Mr Putin’s head. But his reasons for escalating the war, like the decision to invade in the first place, are internal. His key objective has always been preserving his own power, and ultimately his life.
One concern for the Kremlin is the evaporation of the public’s silent assent for the war. Deep strikes by Ukrainian drones on refineries and e-retailers, along with internet restrictions imposed by security services, have shattered the veneer of normal life. The Levada Centre, an independent pollster, says 57% of Russians describe the situation as “tense”; respondents cite the war, the death toll, mobilisation, drone attacks and the lack of a sense of the future. Public trust in television propaganda is falling, and young people post calls to end the war on social media. Mr Putin’s approval rating is sliding.

The mood among elites is even more sour. The biggest issue, one insider says, is not so much the economy or the lack of military success, but the time the war has wasted: whatever the outcome, nearly five years is a failure. There is a growing feeling that the tsar is naked, says another member of the elite. None of Russia’s economic or political problems is fatal to Mr Putin: he has the economic resources and the repressive apparatus to carry on. But perception matters.
Mr Putin may express his aims using the language of geopolitics, but in fact he is guided by the criminal logic of his regime: never show weakness. Russia’s system has a high tolerance for violence, but is unforgiving of failure. He probably believes that ending the war without achieving even his minimum goal, taking all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, would put him physically at risk. (“They will hang me,” he told some of his cronies at one point during the war, according to an insider.)
Carrying on the war in its current form, meanwhile, is no solution. “Inertia-driven scenarios are disadvantageous to the Kremlin,” one member of the Russian elite says: they simply consume economic resources and waste political capital.

All this might make escalation seem attractive. But it is not clear what it would entail. Russia is likely to intensify hybrid warfare and sabotage against Ukraine’s allies and target supply routes from Europe to Ukraine. Western intelligence agencies worry that Russia might target factories in Europe that make materiel for Ukraine’s war effort. But they think Mr Putin does not want a direct military confrontation with NATO.

Within Ukraine, escalation largely means scaling up things Russia is already doing. On August 30th Russia’s ministry of defence said it was preparing a massive strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. But Ukraine already expects such attacks as part of Russia’s all-out offensive to break its will this winter. As for the ground war, Russian sources say Mr Putin is committed to throwing an additional 300,000-400,000 men into the meat grinder. He does not need to announce a new wave of mobilisation: he never suspended his initial mobilisation order. Extra men will probably be recruited using coercion by regional governments to keep any political discontent localised. The authorities are already testing the new recruitment system in Penza, a region 750km south-east of Moscow.

Mr Putin might also intensify repression of supposed “internal enemies”, not because they pose any threat to his power but because he needs to demonstrate strength. None of this will solve any of Russia’s problems. It is only likely to increase popular suffering and contribute to instability, both inside and outside the country. ■

quote:

Poland’s counterintelligence and counterterrorism agency is investigating whether an arsonist caused a fire that broke out overnight at a factory producing drone components for the Polish and Ukrainian militaries.

The facility in the southern city of Skarżysko-Kamienna is operated by WB Group, one of Poland’s largest privately owned defense companies. The incident comes as Poland is on alert amid fears of Russian sabotage and hybrid attacks.

According to reports cited by Polish news outlet Onet but which have not been officially confirmed, surveillance footage captured a masked man on the factory premises at the time of the incident.

Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) is working at the scene.

Though WB Group said the fire was “minor”, Jacek Dobrzyński, a spokesman for the government minister who coordinates the country’s security services, said the incident was being taken “extremely seriously.”

Sabotage?

“ABW officers are working to determine whether this could be considered an act of sabotage or not,” he told Polish private broadcaster TVN24, warning against "attempts to spread disinformation."

Local police said in a statement that a security guard alerted authorities around midnight after an intrusion alarm was triggered at the company’s premises.

No one was injured as the fire broke out while the facility was closed.

The extent of the damage is still being assessed, but police said the fire affected one room.

WB Group said: “All procedures and safety systems worked as they should, and the fire was quickly extinguished.”

The company added that the facility would resume operations once the necessary formalities were completed.

Attacks on defense firms across Europe

While authorities are still investigating the circumstances of the fire, a series of suspected arson attacks and other incidents targeting defense companies across Europe in recent weeks has raised concerns about possible Russian involvement.

Last week, Slovak police arrested three foreign nationals over a foiled plan to set a drone manufacturing plant ablaze.

Earlier this month, Estonian defense company Milrem Robotics was targeted in an arson attack, with officials investigating whether the incident was an act of sabotage carried out on behalf of Moscow.

There were also explosions this month at major arms manufacturers in Italy and Bulgaria.

Europe has been on high alert for hybrid warfare activities, including sabotage, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Hundreds of cases have been recorded, with several traced back to Russian agencies.

Moscow has regularly denied accusations of planning or carrying out such attacks, saying such reports are part of an anti-Russian propaganda campaign.

quote:

Op maandag 31 augustus 2026 19:33 schreef skysherrif het volgende:
[ x ]

[ afbeelding ]

quote:

Op maandag 31 augustus 2026 19:27 schreef skysherrif het volgende:
Gewoon zo teringveel sabotage aanvallen op allerlei militaire fabrieken in geheel europa

quote:

Op maandag 31 augustus 2026 19:38 schreef theunderdog het volgende:

[..]
Mijn eerste reactie hierop is altijd: 'en we doen niets!!'. Daarna denk ik: misschien doen we genoeg, maar brengen we dat niet naar buiten. Ik hoop maar op het tweede.

quote:

Op maandag 31 augustus 2026 19:44 schreef Droopie het volgende:

[..]
Bekijk deze YouTube-video nou, ik heb dit recent geluisterd, denk dat wij totaal niet voorbereid zijn, op wat dan ook.

quote:

Omski activist Danil Tsjebykin meldt arrestaties van mannen op de straten van Omsk en druk om een contract te tekenen met het Russische Ministerie van Defensie

«Verdachte gladgeschoren dikbuiken in een jeep grijpen mensen van de straat en houden ze dan 2 dagen vast in het rekruteringskantoor of politiebureau om hen te dwingen een contract te tekenen»