https://archive.is/TurDH

Nonarchived link

Business Insider says

Ukraine sends the powerhouse 82nd Air Assault Brigade into battle, as generals decide 'to put all their chips on the table,' says defense analyst

Fresh meat is being sent feet first into the meat grinder as the 2,000 men strong "elite" 82nd Air Assault Brigade - Fresh from training on NATO equipment and war doctrine - is being sent to succeed where all other nato equipped and trained Brigades have failed.

Article:

A key chess piece in Ukraine's military strategy has been deployed. Ukraine's 82nd Air Assault Brigade has officially joined the counteroffensive against the Russian invasion forces, the Kyiv (com)Post reports.

Michael Clarke, a defense and security analyst, told Insider that Ukraine's generals have "decided to put all their chips on the table," bringing everything they intend to use forward.

Leaked documents from earlier this year revealed the 82nd Brigade was a formidable unit with about 150 NATO-supplied armored infantry carriers. Its impressive arsenal includes 90 US Stryker vehicles, 40 German-produced Marders, 24 US-made M113 infantry carriers, and 14 British Challenger tanks, Politico reported.

In April, NATO confirmed they had trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian armored brigades.

The Challenger tanks have been reinforced with "cope cages" – self-installed turret-mounted cages to safeguard the vehicles from drone strikes. Even without this modification, the 71-ton, four-crew Challenger 2 is said to be the best-protected tank used in this war, according to Forbes.

THEY SAID THE THING

Forbes called the 82nd Brigade "almost comically powerful" as it represents half of its best NATO-delivered infantry armored vehicles.

Ukraine's long-anticipated counteroffensive started on June 4 with a string of coordinated attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine, Forbes reported.

Clarke, a former Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute in London, said the counteroffensive is progressing more slowly than anticipated because of the "sheer depths of the Russian minefields."

The 82nd Brigade, and its sister air-assault unit, the 46th Brigade, had previously been held in reserve. Although these were some of the last units in held back, Clarke clarifies that this doesn't mean Ukraine is using up all its reserves.

"It does mean that they're committing all their spearhead forces. Behind the spearhead forces, they've got reserves of the more regular forces, and they've got mobile brigades and mechanized infantry brigades that have been fighting elsewhere.

So it's not that they're going to run out of troops or equipment, but they're using a higher proportion of their spearhead units in order to make the initial breakthroughs."

Jimmy Rushton, an independent security analyst based in Kyiv, said that even if we end up in a form of stalemate, that doesn't mean that the war is over or lost.

"Wars, especially big state-on-state wars like this, take time. They're difficult, bloody, brutal things. And I think we have we in the West have entirely forgotten what it is what it's like to fight a war like this," he told Insider.

Clarke predicts the counteroffensive is tenable for another two months, while Rushton speculates that the longevity of the offensive will depend heavily on the tempo of fighting and the weather in the coming months.

The 82nd Brigade is reportedly active in the village of Robotyne, in the southern Zaporizhzhia Region of Ukraine. If the Marines' success in Urozhaine is any indication, the increased military presence around Robotyne could bring rapid gains for Ukraine.

The Institute for the Study of War, in its daily assessment this week, wrote: "Ukrainian forces advanced into Robotyne, and further Russian and Ukrainian reporting published on Aug. 15 suggests that Ukrainian forces have committed additional counteroffensive brigades to the western Zaporizhzhia Oblast area."

Oh yeah i forgot to post this, I think. Just FYI, this solidifies even further my already existing fear of landmines alongside my fear of being on the receiving end of an artillery barrage and tripwire traps.

Also spiders.

Don't show your 3 year old the movie "arachnophobia".

https://archive.is/Aj7Ub

Non-archived link

Business Insider: A leading Ukrainian doctor says mines second only to artillery as a cause of soldier injuries

A leading Ukrainian medical officer said mines come second only to artillery as a cause of injury to soldiers, as the country's troops battle the dense minefields laid by Russia's forces. Serhiy Ryzhenko, the chief medical officer at the Mechnikov hospital in the southeastern city of Dnipro, told The Guardian that of the 50 to 100 soldiers he receives each day, many are injured by artillery, but mines now account for the second-highest number.

"Every day Mechnikov hospital receives 50 to 100 very, very seriously wounded people," he said, adding that the hospital has so far treated about 21,000 soldiers.

"Among these 21,000 soldiers, 2,000 were missing limbs," he said.

Russia has laid dense minefields across the east of Ukraine, which Ukraine says is hampering its counteroffensive efforts to take back territory.

The secretary of the country's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, called the density of Russia's mines "insane" earlier this month.

And Ukraine's defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, told The Guardian that Ukraine was now the world's most heavily mined country. He asked the country's allies for more equipment to help clear the mines.

The density of the minefields has forced Ukrainian soldiers in some places to get out of their Western-supplied tanks to try to advance on foot, while a shortage of advanced de-mining equipment has left some Ukrainians trying to clear mines by hand.

Doctors in Ukraine's southern region told The New York Times earlier this month that they see many injuries caused by mines and shrapnel but few people hit by bullets during the current counteroffensive.

In some cases, Ukrainian soldiers have been blasted by mines as they try to reach their comrades who were hit by other mines, the Times reported.

Ukrainian soldiers also described to Sky News trying to locate mines with a metal detector while another soldier stood guard with an automatic weapon, all while Russian forces shelled and shot at them.

Experts previously told Insider that Russia was able to build such strong defenses, including its minefields, because Western delays in sending Ukraine weapons postponed the start of its counteroffensive push.

Reznikov, the defense minister, said Ukraine has skilled sappers, but nowhere near enough.

One Ukrainian unit currently dealing with Russia's mines saw two sappers lose feet in explosions in the space of two weeks, The Guardian reported.

Some of Ukraine's European allies have agreed to train and equip Ukrainians for clearing mines, but Reznikov told The Guardian that Ukraine still needs help from more of its allies.

BRICS summit in two days!
Countries that have officially applied to join

Maui's emergency services chief resigns after facing criticism for not activating sirens during fire https://abc7chicago.com/maui-fire-wildfires-hawaii-wildfire-lahaina-fires/13666758/

Lefitst Candidate Gonzalez Vows to Investigate Villavicencio Murder

The Citizen Revolution presidencial candidate remains leading all vote intention polls published to date.

On Thursday, Luisa Gonzalez, the presidential candidate of the Revolución Ciudadana, assured that she will immediately create a commission to investigate the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio once she takes office as president of Ecuador.

Gonzalez stated categorically that there are many doubts about the crime of Villavicencio, who was shot dead by hit men as he was leaving a rally in Quito on August 9 and while he was supposedly well protected by the National Police forces.

So far, the Ecuadorian police authorities have reported that six individuals of Colombian nationality were detained as alleged perpetrators of the crime.

Another individual identified as the possible shooter died after being captured and while he was in the offices of the Prosecutor's Office.

Before his murder, however, Villavicencio reported death threats against him allegedly from Adolfo Macias (aka Fito), the leader of the Los Choneros, a gang dedicated to drug trafficking and organized crime.

"There are many dark things" behind this assassination, Gonzalez noted, recalling versions of experts who have questioned the deficiencies of the police protection. Among them is the fact that Villavicencio did not occupy an armored vehicle that was nearby.

"His cell phone does not show up either," pointed out the Citizen Revolution presidencial candidate, who remains the leader in all vote intention polls published to date.

Next Sunday, over 13 million Ecuadorians have been summoned to the polls to elect their president, vice president, and 137 legislators. The new authorities will hold office until 2025, the date on which current President Guillermo Lasso was expected to finish his term.

In May, however, the former banker and conservative politician decided to dissolve Congress and call early elections to avoid his impeachment.

Denmark and the Netherlands are going to send F-16's to the Kiev regime and Danish media reports that the first of the 19 Danish planes can be in the Ukraine by new year. Today Zelensky went to a photo op on a Danish airbase where he sat in the cockpit of an F-16 plane with the Danish prime minister and held a press conference with the prime minister in front of a F-16 painted in the colors of the Danish flag.

"Journalists" on Danish TV are the most excited I've seen them in years. I wouldn't be surprised to see wet spots on their trousers as they report how Denmark is at the forefront of history, enabling Ukraine to win final victory. Danish media claims that the planes are "top modern", and have been fully modernised despite being cold war era planes. Why Denmark needed to replace it's presumably "top modern" planes with overpriced F-33's in the first place remains an open question.

In an interview an officer from the Danish airforce admitted that the Ukrainian pilots that are being trained in Denmark do not receive as lengthy a training as Danish pilots normally do.

Update for August 14th

Off topic comment on baldurs gate 3.

A new weapon that may change the face of war forever has just emerged. Utilizing the Rods of God concept, we have weaponized Dirtowlhexbears and shaped them into a weapon of mass-destruction that can wipe the strongest fortifications off of God's Green Earth.

I have become Death. The destroyer of worlds.

https://archive.is/k4whD

Cuban President Meets With Brazilian President’s Top Advisor

"We want to make the relationship between Brazil and Cuba an exemplary relationship, a relationship of great friendship (...)" said Celso Amorím.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel received on Friday Celso Amorím, chief advisor to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is making a working visit to the island to strengthen bilateral relations.

The Cuban leader said on the social network X, formerly Twitter, that the meeting ratified the willingness of both countries to move forward in prioritized sectors, and with opportunities for bilateral development.

"I had a pleasant meeting with Celso Amorim, head of the Special Advisor to the President of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. We ratified our willingness to move forward in priority sectors and with opportunities for the development of bilateral ties for the benefit of both peoples," said Díaz-Canel.

During the meeting at the Palace of the Revolution, the Cuban leader expressed his gratitude for Brazil's solidarity with the Cuban people and its rejection of the economic blockade imposed by the U.S. on the island for more than six decades.

The tweet reads, "The fact that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent me a letter to President Miguel Díaz-Canel symbolizes the desire to bring Brazil closer to Cuba," Celso Amorím told the press after his meeting with the Cuban president."

Speaking to the press at the end of the meeting, Lula's foreign policy advisor said that his visit to Cuba was an express determination of the Brazilian president and added that his trip to the island "symbolizes the desire to bring Brazil closer to Cuba."

In that sense, Amorim advanced that several missions are coming to Cuba, among them from Embrapa, Brazilian Agricultural Research Enterprise, as well as specialists from the Ministry of Health.

"We want to make the relationship between Brazil and Cuba an exemplary relationship, a relationship of great friendship, which also contributes to peace in our region, because peace is the great objective of diplomacy; economic growth as well, but peace is fundamental," said Lula's foreign policy advisor.

Amorim also met with the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, on August 16. On the occasion, they reaffirmed the will to strengthen bilateral relations and take advantage of the existing potentialities.

He was Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs on two occasions (1993-1994 and 2003-2010), Minister of Defense from 2011 to 2014, and is currently chief advisor to President Lula.

Joe died

30 years after Yugoslavian socialism, Slovenian unions fight for the workers capitalism has forgotten

An interview with lawyer, organizer, and trade union leader Ana Jakopič in Slovenia.

Some choice excerpts:

So I actually come from a family which is like middle class. My parents both have high education and they had a steady job all the time. Of course, during the socialism, people usually had the whole… their lives, they had only one job or maybe two jobs. So the jobs were very stable, the paychecks were very stable, and the housing was very stable. People would pay actually 10% of their income, and they would get a flat for a very low rent, which would be like 10% of today’s rents. And that would mean that they could live normal lives. Also, the working hours were mostly from 6:00 to 2:00, which then enabled people to come home to be with their kids at around 3:00 PM. So people, families were very much more together than they are today. And also the schooling system and kindergartens in Slovenia are free. So even today and they were at that time. So this economic pressures were not that high for my family.

And also for the families around, the ones that were from working class, later on, when the markets crashed, they would get renewed. And so in few years, two to three years, things would stabilize. And one of the things which was very important for Slovenians was this law, which was introduced that people could buy off their apartments for a price of 10% of the market price. So people would buy their apartments at that time for, I don’t know, $15,000, something like that, and they could take it in a form of loans for 20 years. So people then got a lot of these apartments and as ownership, which even today is one of the big important things why people still live quite a quality life in Slovenia. But the new generations don’t have these advantages.

And with the coming of capitalism, the crashing of this permanent contracts came. So for us, then later on, we were wondering if when we were going through schools, what jobs we will get, what paychecks we will get, but that was something that was unknown to our parents. So that was definitely different, but still the atmosphere was positive. So schooling, also with university schooling, is free in Slovenia. And there is this system that if you work during your studies, then you don’t pay so much taxes. So that’s also something that helps a lot of students. But of course during the ’90s and later on, these differences between people in their economic status became bigger and bigger. We used to have a very, how to say, small differences in comparison to other Western countries. So we were actually leading even the Scandinavian countries, but today we are not at that point anymore.

...

And as you said, the working class people really, really suffered a lot during this time. And their rights have been really, really, really, how to say, lowered. And as you said, this is something which is still a shock to Slovenian society when trade unionists, especially the activists, as we are called, some of us try to bring the stories of workers, especially in tourism, but also in other… like food industry out in the media. And people are shocked how workers are treated. And mostly these are workers from other countries, migrant workers who don’t even speak the language and are really treated very badly. So we took that model from America, or how to say, and we applied it very uncritically, and it’s very hard for a trade union movement to stop these practices. We do try.

...

So yeah, first of all, during the ’90s, like I said, in the beginning, a lot of markets crashed. So that was a big crisis, which was used very intensely by the Western economists, especially the Chicago Boys that came many times to Slovenia trying to push the narrative of privatization and of letting people go in mass so that the shock can be made to change the structure of the society economically, but also to cut the ties between people and this empathy, which still existed at that time. For example, if I just say it in a way like it was a mantra that even for richer people, it’s much better to live in a society when you don’t have people who are starving, you don’t have people who are barely making it. That a society where everybody lives a good life or good enough life is something which we all want to have since it’s much better to live in such a world, which is true.

But later on this mantra came that there is a price to be paid if somebody wants to get richer. And of course we have to pay people more if they are more productive. So this mantra of productivity came in. And of course, people who were being paid more and more were not the ones who were actually contributing more, but were those who were privatizing companies, which were built during socialism. So quite funny thing is when you look at the Slovenian market, you still have only companies which were built actually in socialism. I don’t find… I was just thinking when preparing mentally to talk to you, which company was built anew after capitalism came to Slovenia, and I couldn’t find any, to be honest. Maybe some little companies, but this would happen in socialism as well.

Whereas privatization, like buying of our big companies from the Western companies or States even, like airport, the biggest airport was bought by the German country. So, Germany itself. So they were built in socialism. And it was a paradox that they were saying like socialism was not doing any good companies, but in the end, when you look at it, they’re just reselling all the time these companies that were actually built during that period.

We made it to 1000!

https://archive.is/RZybi

Nonarchived link

Ukraine is confirmed to be repurposing S-200 anti-air missiles into strategic ground attack missiles, targeting Crimea and other Russian provinces.