Reed Mideke
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:334865/mmsi:511100865/imo:8311560/vessel:SUKRU_OKAN
Ship SUKRU OKAN (General Cargo) Registered in Palau - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 8311560, MMSI 511100865, Call Sign T8A4116
Vessel SUKRU OKAN is a General Cargo, Registered in Palau. Discover the vessel's particulars, including capacity, machinery, photos and ownership. Get the details of the current Voyage of SUKRU OKAN including Position, Port Calls, Destination, ETA and Distance travelled - IMO 8311560, MMSI 511100865, Call Sign T8A4116
WaPo obtained detailed planning docs for Russia's #Shahed136 #Drone production from "an individual involved in the work … who opposes Putin’s invasion of Ukraine"
“This was the only thing I could do to at least stop and maybe create some obstacles to the implementation of this project,” the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of safety concerns. “It has gone too far.”
Props to The Insider for including a couple part numbers in this article about Russia sanctions evasion: One is AD7450BRZ, an ADC that sells for $15 (single unit), the other is ADF4351BCPZ-RL7 which is $20 frequency synthesizer… illustrates the extreme difficulty of actually cutting them off. Setting up a shell company in a third country to order modest quantities seems like a low bar for a nation state
Short circuit. How Europe turns a blind eye to Russia smuggling dual-use microchips
In spite of sanctions, microchips from U.S. companies Texas Instruments and Analog Devices continue to be imported into Russia, where they have military applications. These violations are hiding in plain sight, in registered customs data.
Man, not convinced senior defense officials armchair quarterbacking #Ukraine anonymously in the pages of NYT and WaPo are helping, even if they're right. Kind feels like a bit of CYA so they can say "We gave them everything they need, it would have worked if they did it OUR way" or scoring points in internal policy debates
#GiftArticle
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/us/politics/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-war.html?unlocked_article_code=rMH7AwpkWVivldDNxvP5CFIGObw_mC7qGgp4zZceP-99O3m-A_t5YIGcauT9gIo2nGUgz6yFm_-spESK97p68IIdeXSRq59-0TB9pDuREeC1tYiF8PDV23Skp7J5J1p1BP01i1ttn0DZBB4A0qK-Av3eLeDR9ew7Gw-0NnNh3gq72G67MxpO_xaHY_1NzDw1h9eA_eoHSxhu3lJN3s-WI3-jnc1n5q4yvio1sp5stqF601SWz8HeIamBGPn9Z6E7OM5yn1uZrJihlxU6P8mU-R7Uh2eWyW1a3Bi5e2RK-elZcmUOLq6kl9BsQtWBt_LZlQ5xzPDwN32xCrISHEL9n_-gt2nWgE0to7AMj2mE84XA&smid=url-share
Claimed testing of a submersible USV (google translate) "In the video, the underwater drone "Marichka" is being tested, which will be useful for submarine ships, coastal fortifications, for submarines, as well as to perform reconnaissance functions
Length - 6 m
Width - 1 m
Range - 1000 km
The price is UAH 16 million
Attacking submerged seems like it could have a much higher hit rate against warships than the surface USVs seen so far
🇺🇦 МИСЯГІН 🇺🇦
⚡️⚡️На відео проводится тестування підводного дрону "Марічка", який стане в нагоді для підорських кораблів, берегових укріплень, для підводних човнів а також виконувати функції дорозвідки Довжина - 6 м Ширина - 1 м Дальність - 1000 км Ціна - 16 млн грн Telegram | Facebook | Twitter Надіслати новину/Фото/Відео ⬇️⬇️⬇️ @mysiagin_chat
Media: Russian helicopter pilot surrenders to Ukraine
A Russian pilot landed his Mi-8 helicopter at an airfield in Ukraine to give himself up to the authorities, Ukrainian media reported on Aug. 23. The landing was part of a long-term Ukrainian operation, according to Ukrainska Pravda media outlet.
Claims Yevgeny Prigozhin and several other high-ranking Wagner affiliates died in a plane crash 🤔
"The plane that crashed in the Tver region belongs to Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to BAZA and journalist Ksenia Sobchak. There were 7 people on board the Embraer business jet, they died."
(couldn't have happened to a more deserving war criminal, if true)
OTOH, maybe an S-300 crew lost some buddies in one of those aircraft Wagner shot down and was like "yo, whoops, accidentally hit the fire button!"
More seriously, while Putin is the obvious suspect, dude was not short on enemies
https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/c99nr4qe749o
Как в России мошенники заставляют пенсионеров поджигать военкоматы - BBC News Русская служба
Летом в России началась новая волна поджогов военкоматов. Среди задержанных — в основном пожилые люди, но есть и молодые, студенты. Все они говорят, что стали жертвами телефонных мошенников. Би-би-си рассказывает, что известно о таких случаях.
Prigozhin presumed dead and Ukraine leaks
If it’s true — and <a href="https://x.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1694415100768145819?s=46&t=JSlKlToJK8h6TJ8mTrweqg">Wagner executives are saying it is</a> — it will fuel suspicion that Russian President <b>VLADIMIR PUTIN</b> got his revenge following the Prigozhin-led mutiny exactly two months ago.
"Pentagon officials have also urged Ukraine to rely less on drones for battlefield awareness and more on ground reconnaissance forces, which can assess Russian positions better. And they have pressed Kyiv to give junior officers more latitude to exploit opportunities"
They may be right, and there may well be context and nuance lost but…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/27/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-us-support-holds/
Does Russia "confirming" Prigozhin's death make it more or less likely he's actually dead? 🤔
(IMO he almost certainly is, and they wouldn't have much reason to lie about it if they didn't actually know)
https://www.wired.com/story/poland-train-radio-stop-attack/
Something reportedly cooking off at Pskov military airfield, #Russia
Video in the thread shows AA fire, suggesting drone attack. Obvious Q: launched from #Ukraine or somewhere closer?
Under 700 km from #Ukraine, or a bit more with a dog leg around Belarus so definitely within reach of their long range drones. OTOH, under 40 km from Estonia, well within reach consumer size drones, though at risk of potentially awkward diplomatic consequences 😬
AA fire probably argues for larger drones
"In the Kaluga region, during an UAV attack, the glass of a house was damaged and an empty tank for oil products caught fire, no one was injured"
An empty tank caught fire 🤨
#Prigozhin crash, shot / chaser
(https://twitter.com/skazal_on/status/1696621234983719398, https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1696665126110367925)
Interesting take on the Prigozhin assassination from Jeremy Morris
"the chains of decision-making are never linear or clear. An unfortunate effect of viewing Russia as a ‘mafia state’, … is that it suggests there’s a ‘boss’ handing out the tasks of enforcement to his capos"
(though IMO, that's probably a misperception when applied to most organized crime groups too)
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/yevgeny-prigozhin-death-russia-vladimir-putin-jeremy-morris/
Confirmation two Il-76s were fully destroyed in the Pskov drone attack, in addition to the two previously identified as damaged. Interestingly, the separation between hit aircraft and the fact the "damaged" ones were both hit dead center suggest #Ukraine was able to specifically target individual aircraft or revetments, as a opposed to a lucky hit setting one on fire and and spreading to the rest
https://twitter.com/cxemu/status/1696991667595657558
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/moment-of-drone-attack-that-destroyed-il-76s-at-russian-base-seen-in-infrared-image
Other drone news: Back around Aug 26, Ukrainian sources claimed an attack on Kursk airbase destroyed multiple aircraft (https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/08/27/7417295/)
Subsequent satellite imagery showed no obvious damage, calling the report into question…
https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1696070712132612233
Two more ships (ANNA THERESA, IMO 9497842 and OCEAN COURTESY 9465198) successfully exited using #Ukraine's unilateral corridor. These are ships that were trapped since the start of the war, remains to be seen whether anyone attempts the inbound voyage, and how Russia responds if so
https://warontherocks.com/2023/09/perseverance-and-adaptation-ukraines-counteroffensive-at-three-months/
https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/stormbreak-fighting-through-russian-defences-ukraines-2023-offensive
Oh yeah mr. commissar that's definitely gonna fix it, brilliant plan sir! https://notes.citeam.org/dispatch-sept-4-5
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/payback-russia-gets-hacked-revealing-putin-aide-s-secrets-n673956
Oh, hadn't seen this part of the Musk / Starlink debacle "The [Russian] ambassador had explicitly told [Musk] that a Ukrainian attack on Crimea would lead to a nuclear response"
Dude got absolutely *played* by a guy making him feel important
