Geo Political Risk

[Davexl]

Germany finally pulling finger...re fossil fuels anyway...

7h ago16.22

Germany has announced a sharp reduction in its imports of Russian fossil fuels, just days before the EU is expected to include oil in its sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

Germany’s economy ministry on Sunday published statistics showing how consumption of Russian imported oil, gas and coal had fallen sharply since the invasion of Ukraine.
Here are the main points summarised by a German government official:

https://twitter.com/SFischer_EU/stat...Events%3Dfalse

Germany plans to wean itself off Russian gas by 2024, and oil and coal much sooner.

[Davexl]

7h ago15.58

Summary

Here’s a roundup of the latest developments in Ukraine, as a United Nations-led evacuation of a steel plant in Mariupol is under way.

• Civilians are being evacuated from the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, where about 1,000 people are thought to be sheltering. The first group of 100 was being led away by late afternoon on Sunday, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The effort is led by the Red Cross, and coordinated with Ukraine and Russia.
• Two groups of nearly 60 people have already been evacuated to the village of Bezimenne in Donetsk, with Reuters witnessing buses arriving on Saturday and Sunday.
• US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has become the highest-ranking US official to visit Ukraine since the outbreak of war, where she met president Zelenskiy.
• In a press conference afterwards, Pelosi said that the US would not be bullied. “If they are making threats, you cannot back down,” she said.
• German chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected criticism of Germany’s reluctance to send heavy weapons to Ukraine, as an opinion poll by Sunday newspaper Bild Am Sonntag found a majority of Germans disagreed with his approach.
• The governor of the north eastern city of Kharkiv has urged people not to leave shelters on Sunday due to intense shelling.
• Pope Francis described the war in Ukraine as a “macabre regression of humanity” that makes him “suffer and cry”, in a Sunday noon address in St Peter’s Square.
• Russia’s defence ministry has confirmed an attack on an airfield near Odesa on Saturday. It said its forces had destroyed a runway and hangar at an airfield, which contained weapons supplied by the US and EU.
• One person has been injured in a fire at a Russian defence facility in the Belgorod region which borders Ukraine.

[Davexl]

Scholz defends Ukraine policy as criticism mounts in Germany

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nts-in-germany

Excerpt:

Melnyk, who has himself drawn criticism within Germany for his persistent complaints about what he has repeatedly described as the country’s lack of decisive action, said that the Gepard anti-aircraft guns promised last week were insufficient and too old.

“The direction is the right one, but of course they are not enough. In particular we’re lacking ammunition for the Gepards ... and in addition they are 40 years old. In order to defeat Russia we need the most modern Germany weaponry,” he said, also speaking to Bild.

Melnyk listed the specific arms he said Ukraine needed Germany to deliver. “We want the speedy export of 88 Leopard tanks, 100 Marder armoured personnel carriers, self-propelled howitzers and much more. We are experiencing the biggest war in Europe for 80 years. It cannot be won with 30 or 100 more anti-aircraft systems.”

[Joshuatree]

Appreciate you feeding news on this thread Davexl.

[Waltzing]

LP 1's are next to useless and not a match for upgrade T64's apparently.

The Older Anti Aircraft guns are still used around the world and still considered effective.

A lot of heavy guns are still based on older designs and the newer designs for smart weapons are very new.

Those Lp1 's are apparently only any use for home guard stuff and for freeing up front line resources.

The russians will also run out of tank resources as many are not fit for purpose.

There is chance both side run out of resources.

Germany is only starting to re equip with modern anti aircraft.

A lot more stuff is being sort and dragged out of warehouses.

BlackPeter can probably tell us about the german Anti Aircraft tank but some eastern european countries have only just started using them in the last 10 years.

Looks like the problem getting the munition and Brazil has some bought for protecting soccer events of all things.

It will take germany up to 6 to 12 months to manufacture new ammo as the SWIZZY's are neutral.

Looking like a non starter for the next 6 months.

A lot of open space in Ukraine.

[Panda-NZ-]

Russian state TV hosts debate firing nuclear missiles at London, Paris and Berlin

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world...nd-berlin.html


Funny because how many will simply fall out of the sky or not fire.

The finest of russian engineering (tm)

[Davexl]

36m ago03.19

Report: Russia's top uniformed officer visited Ukraine last week

Russia’s top uniformed officer, General Valery Gerasimov, visited dangerous frontline positions in eastern Ukraine last week in a bid to reinvigorate the Russian offensive there, the New York Times has reported citing Ukrainian and US officials.
The Guardian was unable to verify the report.
During the visit, Gerasimov, chief of the Russian general staff, narrowly escaped a deadly Ukrainian attack on a school being used as a military base in the Russian-controlled city of Izium late Saturday, the Times reported.
Around 200 soldiers including at least one general were killed in the strike, a Ukrainian official told the paper, but Gerasimov had already departed for Russia.
The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, earlier said that Ukrainian forces had “likely conducted a rocket artillery strike on a Russian command post in Izyum on April 30 that struck after Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov had left but killed other senior Russian officers.”
US officials could not confirm the attack and the Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Our working assumption is that he was there because there’s a recognition they haven’t worked out all their problems yet,” one of the US officials told the Times. The Russian offensive has been slow, with widespread disarray and poor morale reported among Russian forces.

The Kremlin appears to be focusing its operations around the city of Izium as part of renewed efforts to seize the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Gerasimov has reportedly been put in command of the push.


Russian chief of the general staff General Valery Gerasimov (L) with defence minister Sergei Shoigu. Photograph: Alexei Nikolsky/AP

[Davexl]

Appreciate you feeding news on this thread Davexl.

Cheers JT, trying to be a little selective of Guardian feed especially...

[beetills]

Russian state TV hosts debate firing nuclear missiles at London, Paris and Berlin

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world...nd-berlin.html


Funny because how many will simply fall out of the sky or not fire.

The finest of russian engineering (tm)

Funny that the Russians are only talking about the outgoing,no mention of the incoming.

[Davexl]

28m ago06.24

More than a quarter of the units dedicated to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have likely since been rendered “combat ineffective”, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update on the conflict.
Some of the country’s most elite units had suffered the highest attrition rates, it continued, adding: “It will probably take years for Russia to reconstitute these forces.”
The update in full:

https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status...0804ebf9432563


At the start of the conflict, Russia committed over 120 battalion tactical groups, approximately 65% of its entire ground combat strength.

It is likely that more than a quarter of these units have now been rendered combat ineffective.
Some of Russia’s most elite units, including the VDV Airborne Forces, have suffered the highest levels of attrition. It will probably take years for Russia to reconstitute these forces.