Interlude: Nik Kershaw - The Riddle

Interlude: Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

Thailand: Royal Thai Navy ship sinks in storm

(Gulf of Thailand) On Sunday evening, the Royal Thai navy ship the corvette HTMS Sukhothai suffered a power failure , resulting in it taking on water, resulting in a list, which in turn resulted in the loss of the ship. Of the 106 crew on board, around 75 sailors were rescued with 31 still missing.

The Sukhothai a Ratanakosin-class corvette was ordered in 1984 from the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Tacoma, Washington and commissioned by the Thai Navy in 1987. Coming in at 960 tonnes it was equipped for anti-air , surface and anti-submarine operations.

Interlude: Cathy Dennis - Too Many Walls

Ukraine: Why the US is pondering to supply Kyiv with the Patriot Missile System

(Washington) So, a major story coming out of the US at the moment is that POTUS is on the cusp of signing off the supply of the Patriotmissile system to the Ukraine. A theatre level weapon which for the past 10 months Washington has refused to supply Kyiv. So, what has changed Washingtons mind?

Since Moscow started suffering reversals inside the Ukraine on the Battlefield:

• Pushed out of the Kyiv Oblast
• Pushed out of the Sumy and Chernihiv Oblast
• Pushed out of Kharkiv Oblast
• Pushed out of the East bank of the Kherson Oblast
• Kicked out of Snake Island
• The sinking of the Moskva
• Disablement of Kerch bridge

Putin  has taken to using Cruise and Ballistic missiles to carry out long range missile attacks across the Ukraine (primarily on its infrastructure) in which to hurt the Ukrainian population which he knows is unable to fight back, there is also the added bonus of trying to force the liberal Europeans populations to demand their leaders to force a ceasefire in which to end this war, albeit in Moscow’s favour. Well Moscow’s supply of missiles (Cruise and Ballistic) have run low, resulting in Moscow going cap in hand to Iran regards supplying Moscow with Loitering munitions. 

Whilst initially effective, the Ukrainians (with supplied NATO anti-aircraft weaponry) have become adept at knocking these loitering munitions out of the sky such as the latest attack on the 14^th Dec 2022 when all 13 such weapons (usually Shahed 136) aimed at Kyiv were taken out. 

Moscow realizing that the supply of western Anti-aircraft systems have started to make a difference, decided that importing Ballistic missiles from Iran such as the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles will allow them to bypass the supplied NATO missiles systems and continue to pound the Ukrainian civilian population into submission. Which is where the Patriot Missile system comes in, these past 7 years has seen the Iranians via their Houthi proxy launching Ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia which using the Patriot missile system has taken out over 300 Missiles. The very same missiles Moscow is looking to procure from Iran.

Naturally the Russians aren’t happy at the news that the US may supply a theatre wide defensive weapon to the Ukraine and have stated that the system would be a prime target. But then, everything inside the Ukraine has been a target for Moscow since Feb 2022.

India: Big trouble in Little China

(Arunachal Pradesh)  Last Friday on the border between India and China, around 300 Chinese soldiers just happened to cross into the Indian side for whatever reason only the Chinese will know about, expecting to face very little opposition near the Indian town of Tawang in which carry out a landgrab which has become a trademark of China of late by pushing the boundry of China forward and the Indian one back few hundred feet.

Unfortunately for the Chinese, India having faced numerous such incursions by the Chinese and usually coming off worse had planned for another such an entry on mass into India and instead of the usual single military unit in the area actually had 3 and as has become par the course for Chinese , Indian confrontations in the Himalayas a physical violent confrontation took place, where as mentioned for once the Chinese came off worse.

The December 9th incident is the most serious encounter between the two sides in recent years in this sector, and the first one resulting in injuries since the Galwan clash, in which 20 soldiers on the Indian side and an unspecified number of Chinese troops lost their lives.

US: Picks replacement for UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter

(Washington) On the 5^th of December 2022, the US army announced the Bell Textron's V-280 Valor Tiltrotor as the winner of its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRA) competition (which itself was part of the Future Vertical Lift program).

So what is the Future Vertical Lift program? During the latter part of the US military’s involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, The U.S. Department of Defence found that the U.S. Army's rotorcraft fleet was wearing out. Combat operations resulted in helicopters flying five times more often than during peacetime. For years, manufacturers have been remanufacturing and upgrading existing families of aircraft without creating original platforms. So the DoD came up with the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program where they would create a new rotorcraft family utilising new technologies, materials, and designs that are quicker, have longer ranges and higher payload capacities, more reliable, easier to maintain and operate, have lower operating costs, and can reduce logistical footprints. creating a family of systems to replace most Army helicopters. Currently that stands at five classes:

• JMR-Light: Scout version to replace the OH-58 Kiowa.
• JMR-Medium-Light.
• JMR-Medium: Utility and attack versions to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache aka Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft
• JMR-Heavy: Cargo version to replace the CH-47 Chinook.
• JMR-Ultra: New ultra-sized version for vertical lift aircraft with performance similar to fixed-wing tactical transport aircraft, such as the C-130J Super Hercules and the Airbus A400M Atlas.

So, the V-280 Valor, designed by the company which gave the world the original tilt rotor the V-22 Osprey which has been in service since 2007 with over 400 built. 

A somewhat troublesome aircraft which has seen 13 Hull losses resulting in 51 fatalities. So what Bell did was iron out all the issues which plagued the V-22. Coming up with a much more reliable aircraft the main visible differences been having the Propellers tilt and not the entire engine and large side doors rather than the rear ramp of the V-22, inside borrowing tech from the F35 program, sensors have been placed around the aircraft allowing the pilot to see around the outside of aircraft from the comfort of his helmet

As mentioned the V 280 will replace the Army's current fleet of UH-60 Black Hawks (around 2000). It will carry 12 soldiers at a speed of around 320 mph out to a range of around 900 miles and at a stroke outperform by a huge margin every other assault helicopter in use around the world. For example, China’s new assault helicopter the Harbin Z-20 which became operational in 2019 is based on the UH-60 Blackhawk, the aircraft the US is replacing with the V-280. A craft the US started operating in 1979.

 

More on the Valor can be found on this short video:

Russian: Unveils T72B4 tank

(Russia) The mainstay of the Russian army is the T72 tank, which came into service in 1973, yes the Soviets did follow on with the T80 the T90 (basically a T72 with a new turret)  and the new T14 Armata. But  due to the vast number of T72s built , the loss of faith of the T80 after Chechnya the arrival of the T90 during a time of military cuts, and the very high cost of the T14, Moscow went down the path of upgrading the T72 in 2017 to the T72B3 standard.

On paper a most impressive armoured vehicle:

• New engine,
• new gunners’ sight, (fitted with thermal imager.)
• new fire control system,
• Improved autoloader,
• New ballistic computer

Previous Kontakt-5 second-generation Explosive reactive armour replaced by newer Relikt explosive reactive armour (ERA) offering superior protection against shaped charges, tandem warheads, armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds, anti-tank guided missiles, as well as low-velocity and high-velocity missiles.

T72B3 pictures by Vitaly Kuzmin

Unfortunately for Moscow when they invaded the Ukraine in Feb 2022 they found out the hard way that what was written about their so called impressive T72B3 tanks wasn’t worth the paper it was written on, and that the T72B3 still contained the same flaws that has plagued each and every Russian tank since the T64. (which the T72,T80 and T90 are all derived from) specifically how the tanks all position the ammunition for the main gun around the autoloader in the centre of the tank. 

Which has a habit of detonating when the tank armour is penetrated resulting in the turret turning into a 12 ton frisbee.

So after suffering horrific losses in its T72B3 fleet these past 9 months, Moscow went back to the drawing board and appears to have tried to have put right the flaws which has seen it lose so many Tanks specifically the T72B3. Well the other day, they sent into the Ukraine around 200 T90M tanks and a similar number of the upgraded T72B4 tanks.

(To be fair, Moscow was in the process of fitting a new universal turret for its T72 and T80 tank fleets which is very similar to the Turret fitted to the T90M. no doubt the cost was the main factor why they hadn’t done so, but the horrendous losses they have suffered in the Ukraine , appears to have kicked them into action, but saying that the pictures of the tanks moving into the Ukraine by train , shows the tanks using the older turrets )

 So its early days but it appears that the Tanks have received an armour upgrade , getting rid of the cage armour at the rear of the engine housing and turret and replacing it with ERA, they also appear to have added ERA on the top of the turret, as I mentioned , its early days and with the Russians keeping stum on what they have done, it will require one to be captured by the Ukraine for the full facts to come out.

US: Looking at providing Ukraine with the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb

(Washington) The supply of NATO weapons to Kyiv whilst relatively small compared to the total number of weapons actually in use by the Ukraine made a huge impact against the Russian war machine which helped slow down , halt and reverse the Russian thrust at Kyiv at the beginning of the war. (Looking at the US supplied Javelin, The British/Swedish NLAW) by no means do I belittle the Ukrainian fighting capability, but the effectiveness of NATO supplied Anti-tank weapons surprised not only the Russians, but everybody else. We see similar with the supply of anti-aircraft missiles , which have not only helped keep the Russian air force grounded over the Ukraine (That said, the Ukraine’s initial holdings of the S300, BUK, TOR and 2K22 Tunguska played a much bigger part) but have played a huge part in mitigating the use of cruise missiles, and loitering munitions that Moscow has been launching at mass at the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure (Granted a load are still getting through, but the fact remains a lot are getting taken out)

(A German supplied Gepard taking out a Russian missile/Drone) 

And then we have the poster boy for NATO supplied weapons the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System better known as HIMARS. 

People wax lyrical about the vehicle yes HIMARS is a vehicle and not a Missile as people presume, actually it’s a lightweight wheeled iteration of the tracked M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, a system still in use and which carries twice the number of missiles (12 as opposed to 6) that its younger sibling can and of which the Ukraine has received at least 10

Funny enough, Russia sports hundreds of Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, (MLRS) and has done for a lot longer than the west, but where the M270 (and the M142) differ is by fitting GPS systems onto their missiles turning them into precision guided munitions which as we have seen have been used to deadly effect inside the Ukraine. Moscow whilst having the capability to do similar, has not only been slow to do so, but only has a few systems in use. The only issue for the Ukraine is the relatively short range of the missiles (around 57 miles) saying that, the strike on the Wagner R and R base in the city of Melitopol killing between 100 to 200 Russian soldiers’ hints at the use of the ER GMLRS missile which has a range of 92 miles. 

As mentioned the missiles in use by both the M270 MLRS and the M142 HIMARS, have proven to be most effective . Kyiv would like to get its hand on the MGM-140 ATACMS missile which both systems can launch, and that has a range of 186 miles and a warhead twice the size of the normal ones. If supplied, this would be a huge game changer for the Ukraine, but the US has been reticent in supplying the Ukraine, because they fear that if launched at targets inside Russia, Moscow would up the ante with Putin doing something really stupid. 

 As a compromise , the US is looking at handing over the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB). Launched exactly like a normal MLRS missile after a set distance the missile opens up and releases a Small diameter bomb, (SDB) 

which is basically a 250lb bomb fitted with wings and a GPS system. Usually carried by planes, the SBD has proven to be a very accurate , lethal and a cost effective weapon ($40K as opposed to $100K for a normal MLRS missile) The GLSDB has a range of around 93 miles , is accurate to 1 metre, has the ability fly a programme course which would allow it to fly around missile defence systems, to track and hit moving targets and hit targets on the reverse side of slopes . 

If the go ahead is given, the Ukraine will receive a real game changer, one that would punish the Russians inside the Ukraine no end.

Interlude: Sheryl Crow - All I Wanna Do

Interlude: Shanice - I Love Your Smile

Interlude: Dido - Life for Rent

Interlude: Lighthouse Family - Lifted

Interlude: David Bowie - Starman

Interlude: Tavares - Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel

Interlude: The Dandy Warhols - We Used To Be Friends

Interlude: Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes

UK: How British Police forces have found a new woke cause to Champion

(Leicester) Over the weekend Leicestershire Police tweeted a link where members of the public could report hate crimes. Below that link was a photograph of a 57-year-old trans woman named “Jane” with the following quote appended: “I get called by my previous male name on purpose.

After a lot of negative feedback from the general public and the Home Secretary, who stated that it undermines the publics confidence with the Police. That tweet was deleted

But the thing is, this isn’t a one off regards the British Police and its craven submission and supplication to the woke cause for example:

1)                         In July British Police arrested a man for posting the Trans flag which when added to 3 other similar flags makes up a Nazis swastika.  When asked why? He was informed that someone had been caused anxiety based on his social media post. And that is why you’re being arrested,”. Yet the irony here was , that picture had already been aired across the national media. After a huge public backlash, Hampshire police released the man (As well as a bystander who was filming the arrest ) and dropped all charges

2)                         At the start of the month Vicars wife Caroline Farrow was arrested (without an arrest warrant) by Surrey police because she had got into an online spat with a Man who ids as a woman and he was offended and reported her. She has since started legal proceedings against the man who ids as a woman.

3)                         In 2019 Harry Miller (an ex policeman) was interviewed by the police at his place of work because (and I kid you not) he liked this limerick on twitter.

You're a man.

 "You're breasts are made of silicone

 "Your vagina goes nowhere

 "And we can tell the difference

 "Even when you are not there

 "Your hormones are synthetic

 "And lets just cross this bridge

 "What you have you stupid man

 "Is male privilege."

4)                  As I mentioned the other month , Welsh police removed a lesbian marching group during Cardiff pride last month because a trans-woman objected to their poster which stated :

Orwellian behaviour like this is becoming much more commonplace across the Uk where the left abuse the law in which to silence their critics and force their agenda onto others. and in each and every incident the charges are always dropped, yet what it is does do is send the message that thought crime will be policed and the old bill will silence you as they prostate themselves before the altar of woke.

US: French company pleads guilty to paying off ISIS to protect its factories inside Syria.

(Washington) French cement company Lafarge has been found guilty in a US federal court of paying off Jihadi groups (including ISIS) inside Syria to protect its operations from 2011 to 2015. The company pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to providing support to ISIS in Syria, marking the first time a company has admitted in the US to supporting a terrorist organisation. As part of its guilty plea, Lafarge agreed to forfeit $687m and pay a $90m fine.

In court,the French cement maker previously admitted that its Syrian subsidiary had paid armed groups to protect staff at the plant and keep the facility running, though it denied charges that it was complicit in crimes against humanity. Lafarge chairman Magali Anderson said in court that, from August 2013 until November 2014, former executives at the company “knowingly and wilfully agreed to participate in a conspiracy to make and authorise payments intended for the benefit of various armed groups in Syria”. Adding:

“The individuals responsible for this conduct have been separated from the company since at least 2017,”

Lafarge is also facing charges in Paris of complicity in crimes against humanity for operating a factory in Syria after the country's civil war broke out in 2011.

UK: Staff at Chinese consulate drag protester into ground and attack him protected by British Polcie.

(Manchester) Yesterday (Sunday) staff at the Chinese consulate in Manchester took umbrage at one protester and so ventured out into the street, grabbed the man and his poster , dragged him and the poster into the consulate ground and gave him a good kicking, Others on seeing this rushed to try and rescue him, but they were beaten back by the British police . whislt over their shoulders the Chinese consulate staff continued to give the Hong Kong Chiense protester a good kicking.

This video appears to show the moment a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester was pulled into Chinese consulate grounds in Manchester and attacked.

Full story here: https://t.co/YlkRcV6CvJ pic.twitter.com/U1C3ccl8IZ

— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 17, 2022

And heres the same incident from another angle:

Afghanistan: Woman commits suicide before getting stoned to death

(Ghor)  A woman who was arrested in Ghor province by the Taliban after they claimed she ran away from home with another man, committed suicide before the Taliban had the chance to bury her up to her chest and then stone her to death, the man she ran away with was executed on Wednesday. 

Iran: Eyeing Russia's $20bn lucrative pharmaceutical market

(Tehran) So for years the mad Mullahs in Iran have shed copious amounts of tears regards how US sanctions is denying them the ability to treat their sick, lame and lazy with drugs. This is a line regurgitated by the media, Human right groups and others.

All of this has been denied by the US, who have stated that their sanctions against Tehran does not target medicines, meanwhile the left of the political centre, are more than happy to swallow the misinformation that comes out of Iran.

Well one of consequences of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, is that the West has cut all links with Moscow, and that includes a pharmaceutical trade worth over $20 billion a year. Well what do you know, Iran that country which openly states its people are suffering a lack of medicines due to US sanctions, has stated on its state media that it is looking to supply Moscow with the pharmaceuticals it used to receive from the West.

Makes you wonder about the veracity of this claims that US sanctions is denying Tehran access to life giving drugs.

West Bank: Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas tells Putin he doesnt trust the US

(Ramallah) In 2018 President Trump frustrated that after 70 years, of the US throwing aid at the Palestinian cause with nothing concrete to show for it, gave the Palestinian National Authority an ultimatum. Work for peace with Israel and receive billions in Aid, refuse and see all Aid cut. They replied that nobody tells them what to do and that the US can stuff it Aid. That saw the US cut all Aid to the Palestinians and a couple of years of faux tears from the Palestinians about how they couldn’t feed their children due to the nasty US.

Well Trump was replaced in 2020 by Biden and when he came to power in January 2021, one of the first things he did was resume assistance to the Palestinians, with $235 million in Aid.

Well you’d think the Palestinians would be grateful wouldn’t you, but no, they showed their true colours last week when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a international summit in Kazakhstan which saw Abbas inform Putin he didn't trust the United States which is strange as out of Washington and Moscow, only the former has handed over billions in Aid.

It never fails to amaze me how the left of the political centre who only ever champion the Palestinian cause over anybody else act all suprised when they are stabbed in the back time, and time and time again by their eternal victims

Interlude: Racey - Some Girls

Interlude: Soft Cell - Entertain Me

Interlude: The Hollies - Stop Stop Stop

Interlude: The Mixtures - The Pushbike Song

Switzerland to purchase 36 F35s

(Bern) In something of a surprise, Switzerland blocked a referendum demanded by 2 political parties (the Socialist Party and the Greens) over the Governments plans to purchase thirty six F35 stealth jets. As is the case in Switzerland, if you want to question anything the government proposes you garner 100K signatures which allows that Government proposal to be thrown at the public allowing them to vote on the matter. This we saw take place in 2014, when the purchase of 22 Gripen aircraft was rejected in which to replace Switzerland’s aging F5 fighter aircraft which had been in service since 1978. It seems that the Government knowing it couldn’t allow another rejection in which to update its airforce, simply said no and went ahead with the purchase of the F35 of which the first 4 will be built in the US, with the remainder in Italy, Bern is looking at 2030 for when the aircraft will become operational. 

Interlude: Kirsty MacColl - There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis

Ukraine: So exactly what has just happened in the North East (Part 3)

(Kharkiv) So the Ukraine having tied up the vast majority of the Russian teeth arms on the West bank of the Dnieper, decided to launch their real offensive on Thursday evening, catching the Russians completely off guard resulting in the worst defeat Moscow has suffered since WW2.  As i have already explained what transpired in the 2 posts beofre this , I'll allow the infographics below to tell their story.

Take note of the map scale and the time line:

Ukraine: So exactly what has just happened in the south (Part 2)

(Kharkiv) Here is a little more detail on that Ukrainian counter attack.  As mentioned Kyiv hinted that with Russia with so its called clear set goals in the east of the country (the capture and annexation of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts,) which they had achieved in the latter and were on the cusp of achieving in the former, they didn’t see Moscow going any further there, so could afford to take it easy there and instead turn their attention to the south where Moscow has crossed the river Dniper , captured the city of Kherson and a lot of the surrounding area. If they could defeat the Russians here, not only would they regain control of the city of Kherson, but with the river in the way, it would be easily defendable. Moscow listening to all of the decided in July to redeploy a load of its battle groups to Kherson, meanwhile the Ukraine continued in promoting its Kherson summer offensive by striking ammo dumps, airfields, HQs supply routes as well as the 3 bridges 

which linked Kherson with the east bank of the Dniper in which to send the impression it was softening up the area prior to a major offensive which it launched at the end of August.

So since the start of Sept (these past 12 days) the Ukraine has made few moves against a very powerful Russian force, which gave Moscow the impression that relocating their troops was the right move. 

So since the start of Sept (these past 12 days) the Ukraine has made few moves against a very powerful Russian force, which gave Moscow the impression that relocating  their troops was the right move. They cashing in on the lack of Ukrainian troops (helped by misinformation on social media regards large numbers of Ukrainian casualties) started to peddle the line that the Ukrainians had suffered a huge defeat. With the Western media taking a much more conciliatory stance on what is happening in Kherson.

Ukraine: So exactly what has just happened there? (Part 1)

(Kharkiv) Well what an eventful past 4 days in the Ukraine with the home side hitting Moscow with a sucker punch which dazed the entire Russian Command and Control (C2) system allowing the Ukraine to cash in on that brain freeze and retake hundreds of square miles of occupied territory , capturing a huge number of strategic nodes (Rail transport hubs, Supply areas, lines of communication and HQs) and inflicting huge losses on the Russian military in the process, losses Moscow really cannot afford to lose in either men ,equipment but worst of all the loss in moral. So what exactly happened.

Well for months now, Kyiv has been peddling the line that they were going to dig in in the North and hold the fort whislt in the south of the country they were going to launch a summer offensive in which to retake Kherson,

In response, Moscow relocated a large amount of its army from the East to the Kherson region, and as expected in August Kyiv launched an attack on Kherson. 

What most people failed to notice, was that the Ukraine destroyed the 3 mainbridges across the Dniper river after the Russians crossed over in effect not to stop the Russians from resupplying the troops on the West bank but rather to lock them in place. 

With  a large amount of Russian land based offensive capability, out of the way and locked in place. Kyiv on Thursday evening launched its real summer offensive in the east in the Kharkiv region and within 24 hours had routed the defending Russian 1^st Army over 50 miles capturing the important rail hub of Kup'yans'k (the main Russian supply route into the Ukraine ) capturing the city of Izyum (Used as a major stores hub by Moscow)  

#UkraineRussianWar #UkraineWillWin #Ukrainian #Izjum #UkraineUnderAttaсk #ukrainansota Witajcie. Mapa poprawiona i uzupełniona do 10 września, godzina 16 . Podkreślam to moja wizja tej ofensywy . Pozdrawiam , proszę podać dalej . Dziękuje pic.twitter.com/tUPZFR0P5L

— Martinn (@Martinnkaaaa) September 10, 2022

I honestly presumed that Kyiv would dig in and settle down for the winter seeing as they had the wide Oskil River between them and the Russians with Winter only weeks away. But no, since Friday evening (now Sunday Evening) they have taken the fight to Moscow and retaken even more land and are currently just north of the city of Severodonetsk which Moscow captured to great fanfare in July. Meanwhile the vast bulk of the mighty Russian armed forces are still trapped on the West bank of the Dniper River and with the inability to be either resupplied (all the Bridges are down) under constant fire from the Ukrainians who are still attacking. Anyway Ive kept things simple for ease of digestion  for the not so miltary minded folks out there.

Germany: Police shoot dead Allah Ackba screaming Knifeman

(Ansbach) So last night (8/09/22) a 30 year old failed Afghan asylum seeker attacked a 17 year young whilst armed with 2 butchers knives, managing to hold him down, lucky for the lad, somebody else managed to knock the assailant off and both ran off, but still pursued by the Afghan.

Police who arrived at the scene then found themselves targeted by said knifeman whilst he screamed at them that he worked for 'Alis snack bar", unfortunately for him he found out that hard way the adage "Never bring a knife to a gunfight" is tru, tru oh its tru. Three shots later and it was all over for the Afghan on this plane of existence

A man randomly stabbed two people while shouting “Allahu Akbar” in Ansbach, Germany.

During the police intervention, the man attacked the police officers who opened fire and fatally wounded him. pic.twitter.com/PmABgP7MEA

— Helvetia 🇨🇭 (@bsdhvt) September 9, 2022

Interlude: Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi

Interlude: Alain Bashung - Osez Joséphine

Ukraine: Russian troops bug out when they realise that their Drone has been hijacked by Ukrainian troops

(Ukraine) Interesting little video which reveals how the Ukraine has the ability to hack and hijack mini drones used by the Russians during their invasion of the country.  In this case, the Russian troops (well actually one of them) realises now would be a good time to move location after their Mavic Air UAV

is taken over by the people defending the country that Russia has invaded and who have shown time and time again that they have become experts on taking out Russians from the air.

Ukrainians hijacked a Russian drone to the surprise of its operators, live on camera 😂 Slight panic at the end as Russians realise their location is not safe anymore pic.twitter.com/eusMAXLYSv

— Dmitri (@wartranslated) August 27, 2022

Syria: Area struck by the IDF on the 25th still on fire

(Masyaf) On Thursday (25/08/22) morning the IDF struck a warehouse under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said to have contained over 1000 medium range surface to surface missiles in the Syrian city of Masyaf. 

Initial analysis of sat imagery shows the buildings and areas marked in red that sustained heavy damaged due to the reported airstrikes last night at the SSRC near Masyaf, #Syria. Large areas around the SSRC sustained heavy fire damage due to the secondary explosions. pic.twitter.com/oodscPd9CJ

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) August 26, 2022

Apparently Israel made the decision to strike the area after the Russian S300 Anti-aircraft missile system they had based there, was packed up, sent to the Port of Tartus (28 miles away) 

Private Israeli intelligence firm @ImageSatIntl publishes satellite images showing that Russia has apparently moved its S-300 system out of Syria back to Russia. pic.twitter.com/pYDbtT1gaz

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 26, 2022

Placed on the Russian cargo ship Sparta II and sent to support the Russian war effort inside the Ukraine (passing through the Bosporus on Wed (24/08/22) and is currently docked at the Russian black sea port of Novorossiysk (about 92 miles from the Crimean city of kerch)

 Anyway as mentioned, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Israel decided to hit an area which had been under the protection of Moscow and it is quite telling that 2 days after the air strike fires are stilling burning across the targeted area. Naturally the Syrians have claimed they shot down all the incoming missiles bar one. 

Img. Courtesy of @planet shows the damaged caused, some buildings appear to be completely destroyed, suspected to be the main targets and others potential from the secondary explosion(s)/fire(s), one also appeared to be under construction https://t.co/GJeY1NfJH8 pic.twitter.com/h5psOwbHOg

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) August 26, 2022

Ukraine: The state of affairs. (Miltiary Aid to the Ukraine)

Ukraine: The state of affairs. (The Cost to Russia)