(Image by NEIVANMADE)
An oil depot is on fire in Sevastopol after being hit by a drone in the early morning. pic.twitter.com/ll8zY2v8a2
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 29, 2023
Russian navy fuel depot says in Sevastopol goodbye pic.twitter.com/kk5OuSffL9
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) April 29, 2023
Call on @amnesty to condemn Ukraine's attack on civilian fuel my Navy will use to fire peace missiles at military playgrounds in Ukraine.
— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) April 29, 2023
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump:
Not enough that Russia is weak, it must be held accountable for everything it has done – address of President of Ukraine
29 April 2023 – 20:42
Dear Ukrainians!
Search and rescue operations were completed in Uman only this afternoon. I want to thank the entire team of the State Emergency Service, the National Police, our doctors, Uman utility services, the military, our volunteers – everyone who took part in the rescue operation and helped the rescued people. I wish a speedy recovery to everyone who was injured by this blow and was traumatized.
We will do everything possible to make the terrorist state answer as soon as possible for what it has done. Anyone who prepares such missile attacks cannot but know that he will be an accomplice in the murder. Anyone, who guides and launches missiles, who handles planes and ships for terror. Not only those who give orders but all of you, you are all terrorists and murderers and you must all be punished. And definitely – those who committed the primordial crime, from which all others began – the crime of aggression against our people, against our state.
Six children lost their lives in this attack on Uman, a total of 23 people died… May their memory be bright! My condolences to all relatives and friends!
Next week will be quite important from the point of view of our struggle for justice for Ukrainians, that is, for punishment for the terrorist state and all its war criminals. We are preparing several important, potent steps to further consolidate partners and provide more energy to creating a tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression. And to speed up the defeat of the terrorist state.
It is not enough for Ukraine and the world that Russia is weak, as it is already happening. It must fully answer for everything it has done.
We are also preparing new sanctions decisions against individuals and companies involved in the terrorists’ defense industry and against foreign entities, which supplies help Russia extend this aggression. Our decisions will be made public soon.
Recently, I signed new decrees awarding our defenders, our heroes. Almost 450 more soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ground Forces, paratroopers, Air Force, territorial defense, and over 300 more – from the National Guard, our police, State Emergency Service, and our border guards.
In total, during the full-scale war, 45,038 Ukrainian men and women were awarded state awards. And it is evidence of the extraordinary daily heroism of our people. All those who fight for the sake of Ukraine, all those who work for our victory.
Glory to all who are in battle for our country, at combat posts! Glory to all who train our soldiers! Glory to everyone who treats and rehabilitates after injuries, who rebuilds life after Russian shelling and occupation. Who returns our people from Russian captivity. I thank everyone in the world who helps us! It is important now. We highly appreciate it.
Together, we are bringing the verdict for the evil state closer. We are nearing our victory. So be it!
Glory to Ukraine!
Work of art pic.twitter.com/0Rfyj9i4Uz
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 29, 2023
Uman:
Uman. Rescue dog Ninja is exhausted after hours of hard work assisting in efforts to clear the rubble after a missile attack by russian terrorists on residential areas of the city.
📷 Yan Dobronosov pic.twitter.com/eSOmQhgGLy
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 29, 2023
Search and rescue in Uman is over. 23 innocent people killed in their beds. Six children – boys aged 1.5, 16 and 17 years and girls 8, 11 and 14 will never hold these toys in their hands.
All those who suffer from Russian war crimes deserve justice. pic.twitter.com/mEXwNxmz4L
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) April 29, 2023
War means violence, destruction, and death. Yesterday russia attacked Ukrainian civil cities – Kyiv, Dnipro, and Uman. At least 26 people died, including 6 kids. russian officials said that it was right to target as they planned. So their target – all Ukrainians.
— Ukrainian Art History (@ukr_arthistory) April 29, 2023
Bakhmut:
So, Prigozhin says Wagner forces have advanced by between 100 and 150 meters in Bakhmut today — and lost 94 men for that.
Which in fact means each and every of the killed militants on average died so that they could redraw maps by a distance shorter than his own height.— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) April 29, 2023
Mariupol:
This is how russians see the future of all of Ukraine. This could become not only Ukraine’s, but also all of Europe’s future.
Anything other than Ukraine's victory will encourage them to keep going. Only russia's undeniable defeat can guarantee long-term peace and stability on… pic.twitter.com/GoiAzVBXaa— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 29, 2023
Not sure where these guys are in Ukraine, but they’ve been busy:
… and counting. pic.twitter.com/QlpteK6nKz
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 29, 2023
Release the wild weasels!
Ukrainian military uses their wits to regain the lost positions captured by the wild Marbled polecat. pic.twitter.com/6uysdXDMgQ
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 29, 2023
Perm, Russia:
In Perm, Russia, a transformer substation at the Dzerzhinsky Perm Plant caught fire. This plant produces radio detonators and other components for missiles, as well as artillery. pic.twitter.com/y29QldVKvt
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) April 29, 2023
Apparently Russia attacked Poland in December and didn’t bother to tell anyone.
Apparently a Russian cruise missile went astray and flew halfway through Poland before landing in a field near Bydgoszcz in December, and we are just finding out… https://t.co/8BmL6ZNONx
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) April 29, 2023
From the Thread Reader App because I can machine translate the entire thread from Polish to English:
1 / n
Prime Minister @MorawieckiM he suggested yesterday that what fell under Bydgoszcz was not a UFO. But I would honestly prefer “strangers” because we are dealing with a terrible compromise on many levels at once. What happened? Well, 5 months RUS Ch-555 lay in the Polish forest.2 / n
How? Well, the Russians in December shot Ukraine with the Ch-555 series with the dismantled atomic warhead and gabarite-mass mockups instead. Poresursal rockets were used as “wabi” on UA OPLka because of the fault they were useless as a cruise3 / n
Therefore, instead of atomic warheads, RUS installed mass bulky mockups and fired these rockets together with the “normal” Ch-101, R-500, etc. to “densure” the number of targets for anti-aircrafters. But as you can see there was another effect of this attack…4 / n
Rocket remains were found near Bydgoszcz this week. Unfortunately, they indicate the cruise of the Ch-55/555 family. It still needs confirmation but it looks like one of the old Ch-555 processed into an attack on Kiev ( from Smolensk ) “chose freedom” then5 / n
And after the failure of the navigation and control system it flew to Bydgoszcz where it fell. We already know from the Prime Minister’s words that the event picked up Polish and NATO fighters in December but the case was silenced despite not finding the remains of the rocket.6 / n
…if it is true, it “only” is a very bad testimony to the government’s information policy. However, if this is not true and the Ch-555 unnoticed, it filtered through half of Poland before it fell, it is a backup tailored to landing with an avionette on Red Square in Moscow7 / n
The incident was undoubtedly pointless on the part of the Russians and probably if it wasn’t for finding the remains of the Ch-55/555 it would remain undetected or public. I do not want to write about the failure of PL OPL radars and how the year of work in combat regimes affects them, after Przewodów8 / n
what could be thrown southeast. There is a gap in the north, the ( permanent surveillance network poorly detects targets for h ~ 100m ) plus AWACS allies. As long as they are. As for the effectors, we OPL don’t really have it yet. Before the war, our OPL was 1/15 / – 1/20 of the Ukrainian one.9 / n
we are just building an OPL capable of adequate response to such threats: Pilica +, Narew, Wisła etc. These systems are just being implemented or created with us. How they will be implemented – it will be great.
And for now it’s very bad. And this must be written directly.10 / n
However, I do not envy military what is happening and the questions they receive. Because they either knew but they were told to remain silent and now the question is whether they will not fly their heads against innocent officers ( like the political dismissal of the boss after the Checke ) case as a result of looking for guilty
Somebody’s asking for a dupa kicking!
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
@patron__dsns Не зміг пройти повз цей милий тренд…
Here is the machine translation of the caption:
I couldn’t pass by this cute trend…
Open thread!
Damien
On that last Tweet from WaterDude, I’m not sure I understand. Is WaterDude the artillerist, or is the context provided by the readers the artillerist?
Thank you for clarifying for those of us with shaky reading comprehensions. ;D
Chetan Murthy
@Damien: I would have thought better rejoinders would be
Adam L Silverman
@Damien: The reader comment. I’m going to delete it from the post as it is apparently quite confusing for everyone.
Traveller
Dear Adam, I would like to especially thank you for the polecat video. I had no idea what a polecat actually was, though I am familiar with the word of course. Seeing this however, they do seem to be an ill tempered & particularly dangerous kind of beastie. I would not like to meet one after midnight in a dark alley….lol…Thanks again.
Jeffro
Outstanding post – thanks Adam!
I love how all the pro-gun arguments are whack-a-mole on steroids. “The Founders said this! Well, they said that, but they meant this! Back then, an X was the same as a Y would be today.” Enough.
How about “well-regulated militia” cancels out “shall not be infringed” and vice versa, and so we’ll just use our brains and our elected representatives will pass laws (or not) about guns like we do every other f***ing thing in this world?
Anyway, very cool stuff Adam and thoughts/prayers for Sevastopol ;)
Omnes Omnibus
I can’t even…
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: According to that guy neither could the cannons.
Adam L Silverman
@Traveller: They’ve got a temper.
zhena gogolia
So Mathias Rust is not forgotten
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: sfgsdft
ETA: Sorry, that was my forehead hitting the keyboard.
MagdaInBlack
@Adam L Silverman: Quite a pissed off little critter, wasn’t it? But what a beautiful animal !
kalakal
@Omnes Omnibus: Napoleon. What did he know?
That aerial video of Mariupol is chilling
japa21
@Omnes Omnibus:
Sure you can, if you try really, really hard. There are people that dumb. Just say it. See, not that hard.
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Twitter is horrible for clear conversation. I assume that he’s referring to things like this:
My favorite uncle had a replica 3-pounder cannon that he would occasionally take to artillery ranges to fire. He would make “shells” by filling those little orange juice concentrate cans with concrete.
I’d feel safer around a guy with a 3-pounder cannon than a guy with an AR-15, myself.
;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Adam L Silverman
@MagdaInBlack: Yep.
Omnes Omnibus
@Another Scott: There is a reason that the Ukrainians want artillery rounds. Also, one may want to consider the lethality of artillery from WWI on.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: This is a picture of Verdun from 2005. Those are artillery craters.
ETA: The difference between the danger of AR-15s and artillery in the civilian world is that shitloads of people have AR-15s and can carry them around. You can’t do that with a howitzer.
Sebastian
Was this a fuel depot or crude oil storage from the oilfields nearby? The smoke contains a lot of soot, but it could be ship diesel.
Adam L Silverman
@Sebastian: I don’t know.
jlowe
I almost thought it was heart-warming they didn’t shoot the polecat that fell into their emplacement, but then reasoned: 1) don’t waste ammo; 2) don’t make noise. Pleased there was an innovative and peaceful resolution.
YY_Sima Qian
Historically, artillery has been much more lethal than rifles/musket, relatively speaking.
catfishncod
@Another Scott: Cannon (or long guns, or handguns) in 1500, 1750, 1900, and 2023 are all fabulously different beasts.
The Founders were not all stupid; they knew military hardware and thus logistics would change over time. (I mean, I’m sure some of them were imbeciles, but General Washington and his aide-de-camp Colonel Hamilton certainly were not.) What they didn’t imagine were people trying to use rules from 1773 to manage 2023 hardware; they would have been equally aghast at someone trying to apply artillery regulations from when Catherine of Aragon was just starting to be annoyed by her husband’s roving eye, and when this notion of “field artillery” was newfangled and highly questionable.
Anoniminous
@Omnes Omnibus: Re: Cannons are not lethalLOL
Canister Shot From Civil War CannonActual experiment. Think what would have happened to attacking troops under enfilade.
English Civil War cannister
Ruckus
@Sebastian:
The first fuel burning picture looks like heavier oil than diesel. I was stationed on a ship that burned bunker oil to generate steam for approximately the first 5-6 months I was on it and then switched to jet fuel. We went from almost always having thick blackish smoke to no smoke whatsoever out the stacks. And that looks like almost raw or bunker oil burning, IOW rather unrefined oil. Not saying it couldn’t be diesel, a huge diesel fire could have dark smoke and a lot of it. But that looks too thick to me.
Anoniminous
@YY_Sima Qian:
In World War 2 artillery, including mortars, caused 65% of the casualties.
And that was before the VT fuze was available which increased the lethality of air bursts.
TriassicSands
Yes, but just think of the convenience of being able to kill people who piss you off from 15 miles away and without ever having to leave home. (Important for climate change!)
Given the reading abilities of the current SCOTUS majority, there really is no reason to exclude any weapon from personal ownership by “law-abiding citizens.” (There is a small irony here in that so many of the mass shooters seem to be “law-abiding citizens” right up until the time they decide to kill a bunch of people.)
Chetan Murthy
@TriassicSands: I’ve never understood how the 2A prohibits private ownership of hand grenades, C4, and the entire panoply of weapons of war. I mean, if I need an AR-15, I need grenades (and a grenade launcher) too, to defend myself against overweening tyrannical government, amirite!?!?!1!
Sebastian
@Ruckus:
I had no idea ships could burn both bunker oil and jet fuel. Thank you!
YY_Sima Qian
@Chetan Murthy: Why stop there? Every family should have a tactical nuke in their basement! MAD brings stable peace!
Chetan Murthy
@YY_Sima Qian: ideas, newsletter, subscribe
Jay
@Traveller:
@Adam L Silverman:
@MagdaInBlack:
@jlowe:
The front 4/5ths of a spotted polecat is basically feral angry weasel, the back 5th is skunk, thus the fluffy tail.
Fully armed at both ends.
Chetan Murthy
@Jay: I thought “polecat” was potted English for “weasel” ?
Jay
@Chetan Murthy:
it is a member of the weasel family, but it also has foul smelling scent glands in the rear, (near the butt), that can spray. Other than when mating, they are solo, because they all have an “attitude”. The females can take in sperm and hold it for up to 6 months before fertilizing the eggs, probably because of emotional and boundary issues they need to resolve before getting pregnant.
MagdaInBlack
@Jay: So, beautiful and deadly ?
TriassicSands
@Chetan Murthy:
Fasten your seatbelt, the Supreme Six have not yet had the last word. The fool who started all this, Tony “Duh Glock” Scalia, claimed that despite his having miraculously invented a personal right to own a thousand AR-15s if you happen to be especially insecure, his ruling didn’t mean that limitations weren’t possible. No, all it would take for that (no limitiations) to happen was for future justices to follow Scalia’s lead and simply make up whatever they wanted to make up and turn it into the “new” law of the land.
Obviously, if the purpose of the 2nd Amendment, as all the “Patriots” so often claim, is to give private citizens the ability to oppose a tyrannical government, then those same private citizens must have access to all the same weapons the government possesses. My F-22 is on backorder. Next up: My very own nuclear tipped cruise missile.
If, on the other hand, the purpose of the 2nd Amendment was to give citizens a way to defend themselves and their families from, say, a home invasion, then the maximum number of weapons would be, at most, and this is a stretch, two per adult. So, there could be no possible justification for people owning personal arsenals. Gun collectors don’t need functional weapons, they can be “disarmed,” so to speak, that is, rendered non-operational making them safe and fine for display.
Nothing remotely resembling any of this has ever seemed to enter into recent SCOTUS thinking. They seem to prefer chaos and a free-for-all to the death.
Jay
Carlo Graziani
Huh. The Kupyansk weather forecast for May is actually looking relatively dry as of today—about 5 days with rain, and temperatures in the 60F-70F, all of May.
I could see initial UA ops designed to draw the Russians into committing themselves somewhere beginning by the third week of May, counting on a couple of weeks of further mud-drying to set in by the time to let the other shoe drop.
Jay
Jay
@Carlo Graziani:
the key rule of Fight Club, is we don’t talk about Fight Club.
Lyrebird
@TriassicSands: All good points.
Missing option: the purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to allo w for the National Guard. I was taught it was in there to be sure to not again have a colonial situation where they could not have something like that.
Rep. Gallego I think did a nice video explainer reading out all the pieces of th e amendment, can’t find the link right now. Not that you need to watch it, SCOTUS needs to watch it!
Jay
Jay
@Lyrebird:
the Founders did not want a standing Army, as they saw it as a tool of repression, like the British used it.
They saw State Militia’s as the “rightful” armed forces, (volenteer citizen soldiers).
the NRA changed all that.
Chetan Murthy
@Lyrebird: I’m so old I no longer even want to go review the source material, but I read an argument that went along the lines you describe. That the Founders didn’t want a standing army (hence that military appropriations have to be re-done every 2yr) and so these “militias” were in their place (but at the state level).
OTOH, I’ve read much-more-convincing arguments that really these militias were slave patrols, and 2A was put there to appease slavers.
Another Scott
@Lyrebird: You’re probably thinking of this from Adrian Fontes:
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
bjacques
LOL. The person who did Kali/Marilyn Monroe over Sevastopol got swarmed by angry Hindu gods-botherers. One of them even made an astrological prediction that Russia would eventually prevail! Quiver in your boots!
Geminid
@Lyrebird: I wonder if you are thinking of Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. He did very good analysis of 2nd Amendment rights that was widely distributed.
Like Rep. Gallego, Mr. Fontes is a Marine Corps veteran, and he was a marksmanship instructor.
evodevo
@Traveller: AND they are almost as smelly as skunks…I would not want to put that body armor back on after that polecat crawled over it LOL
evodevo
@Jay: You win the nature guide lecture award of the day LOL
Another Scott
@Sebastian: Agreed that it seems to be some sort of heavy oil, but I’m no expert. In addition to what Adam found above, I see this from RFERL.org:
A thread with the geolocation and a satellite view – it’s on a spit right on the sea, so it’s an ideal location for loading and unloading and for use by ships, but it’s hard to tell if it’s only used by the russian Navy from that limited info.
Cheers,
Scott.