��⚡Video from the Ukrainian An-26 crash site in Zaporozhye

I have very bad news for Ukraine. It turns out that the land corridor to the Crimea, the goals of control over which were announced today by Russian Defense Ministry, is Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye, Melitopol, Kherson region.

Also, the second goal of the operation includes a corridor to Transnistria, i.e. Kherson region, Nikolaev and Odessa. Together with the cities

We all heard of “sanction from hell,” now the reality comes to fore.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that a complete European ban on Russian oil and gas imports would “clearly” raise global oil prices and may inflict harm on Europe and other parts of the world. Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko in Washington, Yellen said that such a ban could ultimately cause more harm than good. “It could actually have very little negative impact on Russia, because although Russia might export less, the price it gets for its exports would go up,” she said, as quoted by AFP.

First Deputy Commander of the Azov is, actually, POW now. Here is he telling to Sladkov that he was, actually, doing humanitarian work in Mariupol

owagbeba:
First Deputy Commander of the Azov is, actually, POW now. Here is he telling to Sladkov that he was, actually, doing humanitarian work in Mariupol

dude is a clown

owagbeba:
We all heard of “sanction from hell,” now the reality comes to fore.

��❗“The embargo on Russian gas will not stop the war in Ukraine” - Scholz told why the EU does not impose an embargo.

The German Prime Minister said that Berlin cannot refuse Russian energy sources, as this will greatly harm the economy and at the same time will not help stop the war in Ukraine. According to him, Germany wants to avoid a dramatic economic crisis and the loss of millions of jobs and industries.

17 people from the 36th marine brigade, two Azov, one Croat and one ensign - instructor, DRG.

Captured in Malinovka.

Russian forces destroyed the Ukrainia forces in the area of ​​​​the village of Kurulka, approaching the Barvenkovo-Slavyansk road.

The Ukrainian side reports on the build-up of the Russian Armed Forces in the Krivoy Rog direction

This is the village of Suligovka, south of Izyum. For several days there were fierce battles, RF took the village. It is really littered with the corpses of the Vushniks, which no one took away.

More captured western weapons

Weapons for Ukraine are collected from all over the world, but sooner or later all of them become trophies of the Russian army and the allied forces of the LDNR.

Jesus
See weapons

The submarines of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet have been employing their land-attack capabilities in support of the special military operation in Ukraine.

On April 24, Russian sources shared photos showing a Black Sea Fleet Project 636.3 Improved Kilo-class submarine, Velikiy Novgorod (B-268), being loaded with four 3M14K Kalibr land-attack cruise missiles in the port of Sevastopol. The photos were reportedly taken in mid-April.

The Black Sea Fleet’s Improved Kilo diesel-electric attack submarines have reportedly carried out several strikes on high-value military targets of Kiev forces since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. The most recent strike was reported on April 22.

The 3M14T cruise missile has a range of 2500 kilometers. The missile’s guidance system is built around an INS [inertial navigation system] and GLONASS satellite guidance systems. The missile can fly at low altitudes thanks to a TERCOM [terrain contour matching] system.

The missile, which has a terminal speed of Mach 0.8, is armed with a 450 kg HE-FRAG [high explosive fragmentation] or bunker buster warhead.

The Kalibr family includes several types of land-attack, anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles that can be launched from warships, submarines, ground vehicles and even warplanes. Ship-launched land-attack cruise missiles of the Kalibr family have already seen action in Ukraine.

At least six Improved Kilo submarines are known to be in service with the Black Sea Fleet’s 4th Independent Submarine Brigade. These quiet, heavily-armed submarines can provide serious offensive capabilities.

One of the possible goals for the second phase of the Special Operation

2 huge fires in Bryansk. Oil depot and possibly a military facility

Tanks at the oil depot are blazing, the regional government said.

Brigade commander of underground marines prays to the world to save them from Azovstal
Serhiy Volyn reported on the critical situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Nazis at the plant in Mariupol.

There are a lot of wounded, every day a lot of new dead and wounded. The situation is deteriorating sharply, problems with ammunition, medicines, food.

When Goncharenko tried to accuse Putin, the brigade commander of the 36th brigade of marines directly refused and generally gave the impression of an ordinary sane person, recognizing that the situation is extremely critical and it is no longer possible to solve it by military means, and in general, peace is better than war.

On the night of 24-25 April, the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out strikes on civilian and military infrastructure located in Russia’s Bryansk Region.

The Druzhba oil depot near Bryansk was engulfed in flames. Residents report that there were two loud explosions before the fire started.

The second strike targeted a military facility within the city limits, where the depot of the complex storage base is located.

Bryansk is 100km from the Russian-Ukrainian border. Earlier, for some unknown reason, Russian troops were withdrawn from the Sumy Region of Ukraine, thereby denuding the border area with the Bryansk Region and part of the Russian strike force in the Kharkiv direction. It was claimed that this was a sign of goodwill towards Kiev. Russian troops were withdrawn from the Sumy Region without a fight.

Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry had made statements that if the strikes continue, the Russian Armed Forces will target decision-making centres in Ukraine. So far, Moscow has only responded with statements and concerns. The Russian Armed Forces avoid strikes on key Ukrainian transport infrastructure and “decision-making centres”. This is certainly being done under direct orders from the Kremlin.

Overall, there is a highly contradictory view of the actions of the Russian leadership. Many statements and actions simply do not have a logical explanation within the concept of the Russian military operation in Ukraine that Putin announced two months ago.

That must have been a sign of desperation by the whoever in Ukraine that shot an oil depot ?

A Recap Of The War In Ukraine - by Gonzalo Lira
Gonzalo Lira just delivered a decent recap of the war in Ukraine.
Gonzalo Lira @GonzaloLira1968 - 10:28 UTC · Apr 26, 2022
Quick recap for those who haven't followed what's been going on in Ukraine but want to understand: 02/24: The Russians invaded from the south, south-east, east and north, in a lightning campaign. The Russians invaded with 190K troops—against 250K combat troops from Ukraine.
The RF put 30K troops near Kiev—nowhere near enough to capture the city—but enough to pin down some 100K AFU defenders. The RF also launched several axes of attack, with reinforcements on standby (including a famed 40km long tank column), to see where they might be needed.
Crucially—the Russian's blitz on several axes pre-empted an imminent UKRAINIAN blitzkrieg. The AFU had been about to invade the Donbas. This was the immediate motivation for Russia's invasion: To beat them to the punch and scuttle Ukraine's imminent invasion—which they did.
Also, by attacking from the north and south, the Russians disrupted weapons supply chain from NATO. Had the RF only attacked in the east to prevent the AFU invasion of Donbas, there would have been an open corridor for resupply from the West. Threatening Kiev stopped that.
So the main AFU army was left stranded in east Ukraine, with the rest of the Ukr. forces isolated and pinned down—with no easy resupply from the West. The RF then went about hitting AFU command/control and resupply links, further isolating and immobilizing Ukrainian forces.
The Russians soon nominally controlled land the size of the UK in Ukraine—but it was a tenuous control. The south of Ukraine was more fully in Russia's grip. The AFU around Kherson simply scattered. Mariupol became a clear battleground, as did the Donbas proper.
What the Russians initially wanted was to:
* Short-circuit the imminent Donbas invasion - which they did.
* Scare the Zelensky regime into negotiating a political settlement - which they failed to do.

Kiev had no intention of negotiating a ceasefire because of orders given to them from Washington: “Fight Russia to the last Ukrainian!” Also, the Neo-Nazi goons around Zelensky threatened him if he negotiated and surrendered because they are terrified of the Russians.
So Zelensky launched a massive PR and propaganda campaign, primarily to motivate AFU forces to fight to the death. Myths were created (Ghost of Kiev), false flags were carried out (Bucha, Kramatorsk) and relentless media stories were flogged relentlessly.
The Russians kept negotiating and trying to NOT destroy Ukraine infrastructure. In fact at first they were even trying to minimize AFU casualties. The evidence for this is overwhelming: The RF did not hit civilian infrastructure - water, electric, phone, transportation. They did not hit AFU barracks, command centers, government buildings, etc.
The Russians' initial priority was for a *negotiated settlement*. But by late March, they realized this was impossible.
This is why the RF withdrew from Kiev. There was no sense putting men near the city when they were not doing what they were supposed to do - putting political pressure on the Zelensky regime to negotiate. This withdrawal was claimed as a “victory” in the “Battle of Kiev”! lmao
Starting in late March, the Russians pulled back and solidified their control over the area they had captured, ceding to the AFU areas that were either pointless to or potentially too costly to control. The Ukraine propaganda machine called all these pull- backs “victories”.
There was still a glimmer that the war might end in a negotiated settlement but that ended in early April. After the Istanbul talks of 3/30, the Ukraine side gingerly agreed to some compromises but within a week publicly disavowed those concessions.
That's when the Russians realized the Zelensky regime was agreement-incapable: Their Washington masters, Victoria Nuland and Anthony Blinken in particular, wouldn't allow a peace. They want this war to sap Russia dry. It is a classic proxy war and Ukraine will pay the price.
Something else the Russians realized: Sanctions. They hurt but Russia bounced back with remarkable speed. They didn't really hurt that bad. But the theft of Russia's $300 billion in foreign reserves by the West DID hurt - badly. The Russians realized they were in a total war with the West and since their foreign reserves were lost forever (likely to be pilfered by corrupt Western politicos), the Russians now have nothing left to lose. By stealing their reserves, the West lost all power over Russia.
This has sealed Ukraine's fate: The Russians now have no incentive to give up what they have conquered. It has cost them too much in terms of men and treasure. And they know that they can't negotiate a ceasefire. The Zelensky regime will simply break it later.
Which means:
The Russians intend to conquer and permanently annex all the south and east of Ukraine. This is why their strategy on the battlefield has dramatically shifted: Now they are carrying out a slow, methodical grinding down and destruction of the AFU.
The war in the first 30 days was speed, feints, nominally capturing vast swathes of Ukraine territory, with the aim of pressuring the Zelensky regime into a negotiated settlement. But the West's total financial and political break with Russia means they have nothing to lose. And they have a lot to gain: The Donbas is mineral rich, the really productive farmlands of Ukraine are in the east and south, Kharkov is a major industrial city, the Sea of Azov has untold natural gas reserves.
And besides - the people love them. Why would the Russians now give up this hard-won prize?
And they *have* won - make no mistake. Ask any military man who is not a system pig, he'll tell you: There is no way for the AFU to retake their country. They have no armor, no air defense, no fuel, no comms - it's over.
The great tragedy is that so many THOUSANDS of young men will die, and die NEEDLESSLY!!,  in order to postpone the inevitable. These brave boys will have fought so valiantly - and died so young, so cruelly -because of the evil of the Zelensky regime.
That's the hard truth.
And in the end, this will be the map that will remain—a bitter image of Ukraine's future. Russia will pour billions into their newly acquired territory. It will prosper and flourish. But the rump-state of Ukraine will be left poor, destroyed, forgotten.
A tragedy.

You remember this lady that her photo made headlines in the world?

owagbeba:
You remember this lady that her photo made headlines in the world?

The lady who pretended to be a wounded civilian has been captured.

British mercenary destroyed in Ukraine, - Sky News.

Scott Sibley was a veteran of the British Army. Earlier it was reported that 1 Briton was killed in Ukraine, and the 2nd was missing.

Russian special operation in Ukraine contributes to the liberation of the world from the oppression of the West — Lavrov

"It is obvious that the attempts of the collective West to interfere with the natural course of history, to solve their problems at the expense of others, are doomed. Today's world has several decision-making centers, it is multipolar. We see how the states of Asia, Africa, Latin America are developing dynamically. Real freedom is emerging for everyone choice, including ways of development and participation in integration projects. Our special military operation in Ukraine also contributes to the process of liberating the world from the neo-colonial oppression of the West, heavily implicated in racism and an exclusiveness complex," the Russian Foreign Minister said in an interview.

"[b]The United States bears undeniable responsibility for starting the crisis in Ukraine" - [/b]Chinese Foreign Ministry.

A powerful fire in the industrial zone of Kharkov after the explosions

Letter from Ukrainian soldier at frontline

Well, for understanding - about the microclimate that prevails in the 93rd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, operating near Izyum, in our direction.

“We, the servicemen of the 3rd mechanized company of the 1st mechanized battalion of the 93rd OMBR, refuse to serve further for the following reasons:

No evacuation of the wounded
Lack of adequate command
Lack of heavy equipment
Lack of specialists in anti-tank weapons
Large losses of personnel 3 mech company 1 mech battalion (60%)
Loss of combat effectiveness of the company
Lack of rotation for staffing a company

We refuse to carry out orders that are aimed at the destruction of personnel.”

A frightened British mercenary in captivity of the Russian army asks to go home

“They promised they would pay, but no one got the money,” interrogation of another British mercenary who fought in Ukraine.

Andrew Hill's group was defeated near Nikolaev, he was wounded and surrendered to the Russian army. He had a Czech CZ rifle. He complains that he received little information from the Ukrainians.

From what I read there are a large number of Ukrainian forces at risk of being completely surrounded in Olexandrivka. Their situation is bad and they only have communication with the rest of the AFU through a small corridor along the coast, whether this corridor is still open I don't know.
There is talk of up to 1000 Ukrainian soldiers trapped.