Smells like a practice run for a coup.

...or a lame excuse to cancel the annual Victory Day military parade because any Russian would realize there were fewer tanks, guns and soldiers parading by.

Saboteurs derail Russian freight train with explosives 37 miles from Ukraine and destroy power cables in double blow to Putin
Lots of photos showing the destruction in linked article

first photo of destroyed power line: very long insulators, five conductors in a bundle conductor laying on the ground... Did somebody really destroyed a 750 kV mainline in Russia? Puuuh... How long does it take to replace such pylon? Who did this? The Ukrainians or Russian factions opposing Putin?

It's a very large, sparsely populated country... Can they secure their 330/750 kV grid everywhere in Russia? Nuclear power plants are better never disconnected from the grid... cooling. The Ukrainians mastered several such grid disconnections caused by Russian attacks at the Zaporizhia NPP with emergency power. Are the Russians capable to do that too? Reliably?

Scary prospects for the near future.

In this age of electronics, sometimes KISS is more effective.

In this age of electronics, sometimes KISS is more effective.

Reminds me of Independence Day (the movie!) where the invaders knocked out all the advanced communications so the entire counteroffensive was coordinated through ham radio in Morse code...

---

I suppose that's one way to manage one's prisons.
Easy solution to prevent overcrowding

Ukraine is already starting the partying!


Eurovision 2023: Ukraine's champions Kalush Orchestra get Liverpool party started
wrote:

Ukraine's reigning Eurovision champions Kalush Orchestra have got the party started in this year's host city Liverpool with a performance to open the fan village.

The band kicked off the official Eurovision build-up on Friday, watched by fans on Liverpool's waterfront.

The celebrations will continue until the grand final on Saturday, 13 May.

Kalush's Tymofii Muzychuk said the band members were sad it was impossible to hold this year's Eurovision in Ukraine...

Slava Ukraini!!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

It seems that the counter offensive has started and PooTin's orcs are on the run.

Ukraine unit says Russian brigade flees outskirts of Bakhmut as Wagner chief unleashes tirade at Russian military.

A Ukrainian donation drive built an 'Army of Drones' and picked up an unusual weapon called a 'Shahed Hunter' for Kyiv's forces.

Russia Loses 2 Tanks, 18 Armored Vehicles and 690 Troops in a Day.

Crimea's Russian Military Facilities Exposed by Ukraine with Detailed Map.

I reckon that PooTin and his ex-Chef are really getting worried now.

Ukraine says counterattacks effective near Bakhmut, after Wagner chief accuses Russian brigade of fleeing.

As PooTin mouthpieces try to convince the people otherwise with the usual lies.

Russia denies reports of Ukrainian breakthroughs along front lines.

Meanwhile some bridges and orc ships maybe in big trouble.

U.K. Crosses Putin's Red Line by supplying Ukraine with long-range "Storm Shadow" missiles.

And PooTin's Prison Recruiting Isn't Replacing Huge Military Losses so he has another plan.

Russians Offered Up to 8 Times Average Salary To Fight in Ukraine.

But I bet he's hoping not to have to pay them all as he's already Spent Year's Worth of Savings in Just Four Months in his ever failing war.

At the rate PooTin's going there won't be much of a Russia left for his people to enjoy.

1 of PooTin's criminals isn't happy about the U.K. supplying Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine, but could it be because he could wind up on the wrong side of destroyed bridges?

Russia Threatens to Destroy U.K. for Giving Ukraine Storm Shadow Missiles.

As PooTin's ex-Chef is getting more desperate and shrill with no flank defenses left to protect him.

Prigozhin Says Russian Military Fleeing Bakhmut.

I guess that he has realised that he has 3 choices, surrender, die or fight his way back through orc lines. LOL

PooTin's orcs arn't doing very well at all, but they can run.

Russia Loses 27 Artillery Systems, 12 APVs and 6 Tanks in a Day.

Russia’s Air Force Has a Very Fiery Day at the Border as It Tries to Bomb Ukraine.

Meanwhile Head of Russia's crime agency suggests nationalising key parts of economy to help with their war efforts as Russia's Deployment of Ineffective Unit Highlights 'Severe Shortage'.

I wonder if PooTin realises now how defenseless he's leaving his country with his insane vendetta?

Unfortunately, we have from Vlad Vandalizer Pootin the Destroyer:


Ukraine Eurovision act's city Ternopil attacked before performance


On a much more positive note, see Message 2119399


All in our only one world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Russian commanders getting too close to the front line, again.

Russia Says Two Military Commanders Killed in East Ukraine

Russia said Sunday that two of its military commanders had been killed in combat near the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
In a rare announcement of its losses on the battlefield, the Russian Defense Ministry said the commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade,
Vyacheslav Makarov, and the deputy commander of the Army Corps for military-political work, Yevgeny Brovko, had been killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The announcement came as fighting continued for control over Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.
Colonel Makarov was killed as his brigade repelled attacks by Ukrainian troops south of the settlement of Krasne, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Yes PooTin's orcs and their hardware is being drastically thinned out.

I found some interest clips on this FB link.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=729875909143942

Well the number of PooTin's aircraft shot down in a day grew to 5 and it seems that all were self inflicted casualties.

Russian air defenses shot down Russian aircraft over Bryansk Oblast, Ukraine’s Air Force says.

And PooTin's ex-Chef adds further supporting evidence.

Wagner Founder Thinks Russia Shot Down Its Own Aircraft.

The costs are adding up for PooTin.

You won't believe just how bad Russian equipment losses have been.

Unfortunately, we have from Vlad Vandalizer Pootin the Destroyer:

Ukraine Eurovision act's city Ternopil attacked before performance

At this weekend we also had Volodymyr Zelenskyj's first visit to Berlin. Chancelor Scholz met him at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin's newly constructed government district next to the historic Reichstag building (German parliament). On the terrace of the Chancellery, he showed him (photo) the view over the center of Berlin, which was completely destroyed at the end of WWII. The rubble was then cleared, but only to create a void death zone for decades, one of the ugliest fronts of the Cold War. The victims of the war in Ukraine are the most terrible tragedy, they will always be remembered. But Ukraine, its towns and villages will be rebuilt, like Germany after the war, only better and more beautiful than before.

Well the number of PooTin's aircraft shot down in a day grew to 5 and it seems that all were self inflicted casualties.

And even these numbers, they sum up. There are lots of military experts, intelligence analysts, economy experts who do counting and calculating and there's an ever more clear picture where this will lead to:

Marcus Keupp is an economist and military analyst at the Swiss ETH Zurich university. He trains Swiss military officers, teaching war economics. He and others have analyzed the numbers of this war from day one and he's convinced: in October 2023 the Russian resources will be exhausted, the war will be over. Other experts may make more conservative predictions, but the numbers are undeniable. He points out that no war in history has been observed in as much detail (photos, social media, messengers, drones) and evaluated economically as this one. The forecasts are based on numbers, from geolocated photos of military equipment, rather than on models and assumptions as in previous wars.

A long article by Keupp in the most influential Swiss newspaper: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Marcus Keupp - "Und deshalb sage ich, Russland wird den Krieg im Oktober verloren haben" [...and that's why I say Russia will have lost the war by October]
sorry only in German; I don't find the trick to link it via e.g. Google Translate...

Is PooTin's ex-Chef planning on surviving the war by surrendering?

Leaked documents reveal Wagner boss met with Ukraine officials to exchange Russian military secrets.

And was PooTin's hand in the poison cabinet again because he wasn't getting his way?

Rumours Putin’s puppet pal Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko ‘seriously ill’.

After the Ukraine hails gains in Bakhmut as Zelenskiy wins more weapons in Europe PooTin launches air raid on Kyiv, 'exceptional' in intensity.

And rumours abound about Belarus' dictator.

Belarus Leader and Putin Ally Alexander Lukashenko Rumored Dead Following Sudden Hospitalization

Events are getting stranger and their sequence seems to be accelerating...

While A US-made Patriot system was likely damaged in an 'intense' missile attack in Ukraine involving Russia's Kinzhal it was Humiliation for PooTin’s ‘Unstoppable’ Superweapons Blasted Out of Sky by U.S. Defense System and PooTin will wind up with more on his border as Poland takes first delivery of US-made HIMARS rocket launchers amid concerns over war in Ukraine with a further 500 due later this year.

PooTin is certainly getting everything that he didn't want.

PooTin is certainly getting everything that he didn't want.

What does he want? World domination? A "Russky Mir" from the Atlantic to the Pacific? Or at least all of Eastern Europe? He want to stay in power to preserve his wealth, to deter rivals from overthrowing (and killing) him. In the 19th century one may had suggested him a way out: a nice island, far away in the South Atlantic, almost tropical, a bit windy... where he can spend his twilight years in a respectable little palace there... on St. Helena. But bad luck, the 21st century only offers a trial at The Hague and a prison cell in London or maybe Madrid.