(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Russia launched another mass bombardment of Ukraine this morning just before dawn.
Do you know what's in the right corner? It's Kinzhal missile Russia launched toward Ukrainian cities. It's 6 am, and people are rushing to the shelters pic.twitter.com/RngMbpssul
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) January 13, 2024
Guess what people in Ukraine have been doing since 6am of this Saturday morning? Right, sitting in shelters and hiding in corridors as a new barrage of russian missiles travels around seeking whom to kill & what to destroy. Pure terrorism pic.twitter.com/Uny50SoDAj
— Olena Halushka (@OlenaHalushka) January 13, 2024
Russia changed tactics and launched 40 missiles and drones at regions not covered by Patriot systems. Eight were downed, and over 20 electronically suppressed. Call for more weapons is not abstract – Russia is depleting Ukrainian air-defense pic.twitter.com/1ZCVqIoygD
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) January 13, 2024
Euan MacDonald, a freelance journalist in Kyiv, live tweeted the entire air alert. I’ll have that after the jump.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
Independence is gained by the brave – address by the President of Ukraine
13 January 2024 – 19:29
I wish you good health, dear Ukrainians!
Today, I had several international meetings. First, via a video link with the leaders of the Bulgarian parliamentary coalition. Leading political forces. Our relations. Our common security – for everyone in Europe. It was a good and meaningful conversation. I am grateful for the understanding – the understanding that Russian aggression is a threat to the happiness and prosperity of all European nations.
I also had a meeting today with the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of France. It is very symbolic that the minister’s first visit is to Ukraine and precisely at a time when Russia is trying various ways to increase strikes on Ukraine and bypass our air defense. I am grateful to all countries and, in particular, France, for substantial strengthening our air shield, for unwavering support on the battlefield for our soldiers, and assistance to our people.
Today, we discussed our defense needs, including joint production of drones, artillery, and further strengthening of air defense. I briefed him on the progress regarding the Peace Formula. I am thankful to France for its active role in this global effort. We are already preparing for the forum in Davos, presenting our position and joint opportunities for everyone in the world who strives to leave a world of stability and freedom for their children. Our values, not the madness of any dictator.
And, of course, gratitude to our soldiers. Today, I want to particularly commend the soldiers of our National Guard, who, along with all the Armed Forces and security units, courageously and steadfastly defend Ukrainian positions.
The 15th National Guard Brigade – Senior Soldier Valeriy Semenets and Junior Sergeant Serhiy Koval, warriors of the special operations unit. Thank you for your strength! The third Special Operations Brigade – Soldier Vitaliy Saschuk, Soldier Mykola Nahaichuk, Soldier Yuriy Kosiuta. The 14th Brigade – Junior Sergeant Volodymyr Oliynyk, Senior Sergeant Vasyl Cherniuiuk. Thank you, guys!
I also want to commend the warriors of the National Guard’s Omega special operations center Omega, especially the guys from the first unit who effectively carry out tasks on the Avdiivka direction, as well as all the warriors of the third Omega unit who fight on the Melitopol direction, reinforcing the units of the Armed Forces. Thank you for destroying the enemy, guys! I thank all your comrades, everyone who knows that independence is not a reward. Independence is gained by the brave.
I thank everyone in Ukraine who is just like that! And everyone in the world who helps our state!
Glory to Ukraine!
Sweden and Norway:
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration "FMV" tasked the Norwegian ammunition manufacturer "Nammo" to ramp up the production of 155mm shells.
Jonas Lotsne, head of FMV's operational area Army Materiel:
"We are now taking the next important step to accelerate investments in… pic.twitter.com/bqOHrkPabh
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) January 13, 2024
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration “FMV” tasked the Norwegian ammunition manufacturer “Nammo” to ramp up the production of 155mm shells.
Jonas Lotsne, head of FMV’s operational area Army Materiel:
“We are now taking the next important step to accelerate investments in the production capacity of the industry. In this way, we shorten delivery times, increase the opportunity to support Ukraine and at the same time strengthen the security of supply regarding artillery ammunition in Sweden and the Nordics in the long term.”
Source (Swedish): https://fmv.se/aktuellt–press/aktuella-handelser/avtal-om-okad-produktion-av-artilleriammunition/
Here’s Euan MacDonald’s thread on the air alerts and Russian bombardment from the Thread Reader App:
Spoke too soon! This on Telegram: “🚀 Kh-101/555/55-type cruise missiles launched from 6 Tu-95MSs. Estimated time of entry of missiles into the airspace of Ukraine is 0600 – 0700.”Air alert just started to sound in Kyiv city.Air alerts spreading to west.Preliminary reports that five Russian Tu-22 strategic bombers have taken off (they launch Kh-22 “shopping-mall buster” anti-ship missiles with 1-ton warheads).
About 30 missiles incoming that were fired by the Russian Tu-95s over the Caspian earlier. Some already in UA airspace. Explosions heard in Kropyvnytskyi, missiles in Cherkasy airspace, now MiG-31Ks have taken off from Skaykovka air base, Tu-22s nearing firing positions.Russians look to be making another attempt to overwhelm Ukraine’s sir defenses with a simultaneous attack using various types of weapons.I don’t get the impression they’re using as many missiles as in the Dec. 29 or Jan. 2 attacks, however.
More launches of missiles in south- Kh-31R radar-seeking (2 missiles) towards Berislavsky District of Kherson Oblast.Missiles over Cherkasy Oblast changed course to Poltava.
Explosions in Kremenchuk. Probably air defenses.
Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles fired at Dnipro, UA Air Force says.Cruise missiles over Poltava have now changed course to Kyiv.
Three, maybe four Kinzhals fired at Dnipro. Explosions heard in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Dnipro city.Kh-101/555 cruise missiles now in Kyiv Oblast airspace, approaching from east toward Bilotserkva district in direction of Berdychiv district, Zhytomyr Oblast.Another Kinzhal launched: 4-5 launches so far.
Some cruise missiles already shot down.
Group of missiles-> Kyiv.
Cruise missiles heading across Zhytomyr Oblast (west of Kyiv) in direction of Starokostyantiniv (air base) Khmelnytskyi Oblast – favorite Russian target.UA Air Force says Kinzhal fired at Kyiv.
Kinzhal at Kyiv may have been false target – nothing on radar just now. Enemy electronic warfare systems operating, probably.Cruise missiles headed for Rivne- whole country on alert now. Cruise missiles look to have bypassed capital Kyiv and its very effective air defenses. All quiet in Kyiv just now, no sound of air defenses operating.Six Russian Tu-22 strategic bombers are still in the air.No Kh-22 missile launches yet, however.
Another two MiG-31Ks have taken off, so another two potential Kinzhal aeroballistic missile launches.
Khinzhal(s) fired at Dnipro again.Two cruise missiles over Rivne Oblast changed course to Lutsk.
One Kinzhal fired at Kryviy Rih.
Cruise missile headed in direction of Chernihiv.
Another report of Kinzhals fired in direction of Kyiv, 2 Kinzhals now heading for Rivne.Cruise missiles now in Volyn, Ternopil and Rivne oblast airspaces, Ternopil missiles heading for Lviv Oblast to west.More Kinzhals incoming from north.
This Russian tactic is going to continue until the Russians are stopped. Stopping the Russians from doing this means providing Ukraine with the weapons systems, ammunition, and a steady resupply network for them in order to both defend against the attacks and to proactively stop them. To effectively defend against these attacks, Ukraine needs more air defense systems, more ammunition for them, and a steady resupply chain. To be proactive, to go on the attack to stop the Russians before they launch requires more aviation and land based offensive assets, sufficient quantities of ammunition, and a steady resupply chain. Putin’s strategy, of which this is a primary tactic, has two objectives. To first objective is to deplete Ukraine’s air defense before the US – as in the Biden administration figures out how to get a Ukrainian supplemental appropriation through the current GOP majority House – can get its act together and resupply Ukraine. The second is to terrorize and demoralize the Ukrainians. This won’t stop until Ukraine is given what it is needed to stop it. Putin is counting on that not happening.
I want to make it clear, the problem is with the House GOP majority caucus and the Senate minority GOP caucus. As in the former, including Speaker Johnson, has made it clear they’re not interested in providing further aid to Ukraine and the latter is divided and McConnell’s control has slipped as he decays and disintegrates before everyone’s eyes.
Avdiivka:
And here is the official video from the 47th OMBr "Magura" from the vicinity of Avdiivka, Stepove village district
Where Bradley disassembled the Russian T-90M "Breakthrough" tank, and FPV drone operators finished the job— Мисливець за зорями (@small10space) January 13, 2024
Our tank working on Russian positions on the outskirts of Avdiivka, near the village of Stepove, Donetsk region
— Мисливець за зорями (@small10space) January 13, 2024
Successful strike on a Russian base, reportedly using HIMARS missiles, reportedly in the Avdiivka area in Donetsk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/bFGQasaYz2
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) January 13, 2024
And you know what that means:
Russian occupied Crimea:
Business Insider has the details on two very competent female members of the Ukrainian partisan underground:
Ukrainian saboteurs who are alleged to have poisoned and killed 46 Russian soldiers are on the run in annexed Crimea after a shoot-out with police, a local report says.
Two young saboteurs who had poisoned members of the Russian military in Simferopol and Bakhchisarai fled when authorities attempted to detain them in Crimea, Telegram channel Kremlin Snuffbox said on Tuesday.
The police went to apprehend the female suspects at a private house in Yalta but were surprised to find them “well armed” and “well prepared,” the post said.
The saboteurs opened fire and fled the scene in a car, and authorities do not know their current whereabouts.
Three officers were killed and two were wounded in the shoot-out, a source in Russia’s Federal Security Service told the Telegram channel.
It was reported in December that members of a Ukrainian partisan group called Crimean Combat Seagulls poisoned and killed 24 Russian soldiers after lacing their vodka with arsenic and strychnine.
At the time, Snuffbox quoted unnamed sources as saying that “two nice girls” tricked the unit in Simferopol, Crimea, into drinking the vodka, per the Kyiv Post translation.
In another incident, saboteurs killed 18 and hospitalized 14 Russian personnel in Bakhchisarai, Crimea, by putting arsenic and rat poison in pies and beer, Kremlin Snuffbox previously reported.
Russian military personnel stationed in Crimea have been asked not to take any food or any drinks from strangers and to detain any suspicious young women who approach them to prevent further incidents of poisoning.
Business Insider could not independently verify the report.
There were also been reports of two mass poisonings of Russian troops in Mariupol in 2023.
Acts of sabotage by Ukrainian resistance and partisan groups are used to harass Russian soldiers in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014, and other occupied territories, and supply intelligence for Ukrainian strikes on military installations.
I’d like to highlight this section:
Russian military personnel stationed in Crimea have been asked not to take any food or any drinks from strangers and to detain any suspicious young women who approach them to prevent further incidents of poisoning.
Novomykhailivka front:
Russian MT-LB hits a mine. Novomykhailivka front. By the 79th brigade. Do you think driver is fine? https://t.co/7ABVYDtFEb pic.twitter.com/6MWERGWerT
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) January 13, 2024
Rostov on Don, Russia:
Reports of power cuts in a major Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Special Military Operation zone. pic.twitter.com/YrHeSdaPX0
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) January 13, 2024
Somebody switched off the electricity in parts of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. No water and heating, as well.
Source: https://t.co/EWiBUWKY3R#Russia #Rostov pic.twitter.com/fTWmZ1acks
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) January 13, 2024
Krasnodar Krai, Russia:
Another fallen Russian missile on the Russian territory. Recently, it has become quite a frequent phenomenon. In this case, it is Kalibr or Iskander-K. (Only tail of the missile is clearly visible which is the same for both types of missiles).
~260km from the front. Krasnodar… pic.twitter.com/SxeIrMWqqU— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) January 13, 2024
Another fallen Russian missile on the Russian territory. Recently, it has become quite a frequent phenomenon. In this case, it is Kalibr or Iskander-K. (Only tail of the missile is clearly visible which is the same for both types of missiles).
~260km from the front. Krasnodar region of Russia.
St. Petersburg, Russia:
The whole south of St Petersburg is under unimaginable smoke from the fire on Wildberries warehouse. The fire has already spread on 50,000 square meters.
A few days before that, Russian law enforcers were doing raids on these warehouses, looking for migrants who are detaining… pic.twitter.com/BadDJddfhH
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) January 13, 2024
“The roof is collapsing! Hurry to the gate!”
The videos coming from the now completely destroyed “Wildberries” warehouse in Sankt Petersburg show understandably absolute chaos among the workers. But what is mind boggling is that many workers claim that they got held up by… pic.twitter.com/yGw5ffcGAf
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) January 13, 2024
“The roof is collapsing! Hurry to the gate!”
The videos coming from the now completely destroyed “Wildberries” warehouse in Sankt Petersburg show understandably absolute chaos among the workers. But what is mind boggling is that many workers claim that they got held up by security because of the fear of theft.
Reportedly 100,000 square meters (25 acres) have been burnt down.
Source: @Gerashchenko_en
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
There’s no new Patron tweets or videos today. So here’s some adjacent material.
A Ukrainian soldier and his totem animal.
📷: Chervona Kalyna Brigade pic.twitter.com/g2rilk1zPP
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) January 13, 2024
🇺🇦Слава Україні,
її воїнам
та котикам🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/rrELYRQxix— Олег Володарський (@volodarskijo) January 13, 2024
🇺🇦 Glory to Ukraine,
to her soldiers
and cats 🇺🇦
Open thread!
Gin & Tonic
Good to see some young girls with creative hobbies. Beats making TikTok videos.
Alison Rose
Can someone explain to a layperson what is meant by “electronically suppressed”? Like, what does that mean in practice?
At this point, anyone who is “surprised” to find literally any Ukrainian — man, woman, child, senior citizen, infant just out of the womb — “well armed and well prepared” is just a stone-cold idiot. Kudos to these women.
I still wish we could kidnap every putin-fluffing GOPer in both chambers and airdrop them into Donetsk with no money, no phones, no food, and let them see what life under their traitorous bullshit is like. Maybe the ladies above could bring them some snacks.
Thank you as always, Adam.
Alison Rose
Oh, also, The Kyiv Independent has a substantive interview with Estonia PM Kaja Kallas. Thought folks might be interested to watch.
YY_Sima Qian
@Alison Rose: Certainly not an expert, but my guess is that Ukraine used GLONASS/GPS jammers to send the drones/cruise missiles in errant directions. The Shahed drones that Russia has been launching are not remotely controlled, & thus are not likely to be susceptible to interference to the radio link
Interestingly, this is the 1st time I can recall Ukraine claiming to have defeated Russian drones/cruise missiles through electronic warfare.
Chetan Murthy
@Alison Rose: NATO could do worse for their next Secretary-General than PM Kallas. It’s about time the CEE states got their turn to lead NATO, not to mention that in this moment in history they [Hungary apart] were right and the rest of NATO were wrong, about Russia.
Bill Arnold
@Alison Rose:
I’m wondering about that, too. Some) new(ish?) Ukrainian electronic warfare capability, looks like.
Some hints here:
Ukraine’s Air Force on results of Russia’s 13 January attack: Russian missiles are performing worse, Ukrainian electronic warfare is working (KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO, VALENTYNA ROMANENKO — SATURDAY, 13 JANUARY 2024)
ETA as YY_Sima Qian says, GLONASS/GPS jammers are (mandatory “probably”) involved; there has been chatter.
Doug R
Here in Alberta we just got alerts on our phones that this cold snap is using so much power that we should shut off all unnecessary appliances to lower the risk of power outages.
I even unplugged this computer, but of course the wifi is still going.
Another Scott
@Alison Rose:
A recent article at DefenseNews.com might have some helpful background on EW efforts.
(Emphasis added.)
HTH a little!
Cheers,
Scott.
Alison Rose
@YY_Sima Qian: Ahh okay, I see. I figured something like that but wasn’t sure of the capabilities.
Chetan Murthy
@Another Scott: Various military analysts have been arguing that one of the lessons of Russia’s war on Ukraine will be that EW assets (== “EW-based suppression gear”) will need to be deployed down to the platoon, truck, IFV/AFV, and tank level. That is, basically every single unit in a land army will need ’em, b/c they’ll all need to be able to fend off kamikaze and other drones.
And the US and NATO armies simply don’t understand this. [*YET*] Another place where, eventually, Ukraine will teach us all.
Jay
@Doug R:
Well it is ‘Berta, did Danielle Smith run out of coal to burn?
Jay
@Chetan Murthy:
ruZZia has been deploying their EW pods on trucks, tanks and other gear.
It does not appear to help.
There have also been reports of the larger broad spectrum EW gear, shutting down even ruZZian drones, missiles and aircraft, because the ruZZian’s can’t coordinate and communicate between units properly.
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
Elizabelle
@Doug R: Good luck to you. It is frightening to be without power in extreme weather conditions.
Doug R
@Jay: We’ve only got one 500kV line from BC and about 4 smaller ones. We need at least one more, especially when Site C is done.
@Elizabelle: Looks like the alert has people cutting back, hope it works.
Jay
@Doug R:
Site C won’t ever be done.
Another Scott
For those wondering why nitter.net has disappeared, the skinny is here along with a fix for your hosts file.
(I’ll probably just wait for them to fix it.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Adam L Silverman
@AlaskaReader: You’re welcome.
wjca
The best gear in the world, in exactly the right places, still is useless if nobody there knows how to use it. Or even just to use it. Training the
troopscannon fodder does not appear to be a core competency of the Russian military.Yutsano
Dammit Adam. I had a question for you and it’s now long gone. Stupid hospital brain.
Adam L Silverman
@Yutsano: When you think of it, just email.
Keeping good thoughts.
Ivan X
Man, reading these night after night…what happened to Russia supposedly running out of artillery a year ago? It’s all so dreadful.