Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

This really is a full service blog.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

“woke” is the new caravan.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 882: Russia Double Taps Kharkiv & a Russian Drone Falls in Romania

War for Ukraine Day 882: Russia Double Taps Kharkiv & a Russian Drone Falls in Romania

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A quick housekeeping note: Rosie is still doing well after her chemo treatment on Monday. Thank you all for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

As of 7:09 PM EDT, air raid alerts are up over all of eastern and central Ukraine except for Donetsk and Odesa Oblasts. I’m not seeing any indications of Russian strategic air on the alert maps. Hopefully things stay that way.

A Russian drone came down in Romania.

The Kyiv Post has the details:

A Russian kamikaze drone on Wednesday flew into NATO air space and detonated near a Romanian village, Ukrainian news reports said, but official Bucharest said the fact of the strike wasn’t confirmed and that they would check.

The Iran-manufactured Shahed robot plane reportedly struck and blew up in the vicinity of the Danube River shoreside hamlet of Plaura, in southeastern Romania.

Ukrainian social media video recorded in the river port city of Izmail, opposite Plaura, showed an orange flash lighting up the night horizon and a booming blast on the Romanian side of the river. Flames and smoke reaching hundreds of meters into the sky were visible following the explosion. A Russian kamikaze drone strike against Izmail had been in progress at the time.

A Wednesday Ukrainian Air Force statement said Russian operators based in Crimea launched the Kremlin’s latest drone raid shortly after midnight.

Civilian air defense networks closely tracking the incoming strike reported almost all the explosives-toting UAVs appeared to be flying in two waves east of and parallel to the Danube River.

Anti-aircraft gunners, missile operators and tactical jamming teams in engagements across the country knocked down 17 Shahed kamikaze drones, six reconnaissance drones and two loitering strike drones, the official Kyiv statement said. “Most” of the kills were, per that report, in the airspace above the southwestern Odesa region, where the Danube separates Ukraine and Romania.

Ukrainian civil defense networks reported impacts after 2 a.m. local time in the vicinity of Izmail. Local social media variously reported between six to ten ground explosions. Odesa region air defense authorities called an all-clear by 3:45 a.m.

The Ukrainian government-funded Ukrinform news agency, citing air defense and civilian officials, said that in Izmail, port infrastructure was damaged and that at least one Russian kamikaze drone hit an upper floor of a five-story residential building.

A press statement by Romania’s Defense Ministry said two Romanian F-16 fighter jets took off at 2:19 a.m. (approximately an hour after the Russian drones launched from Crimea), in response to the incoming raid towards Izmail. The aircraft returned to Borcea Air Base at 4:20 a.m. The statement mentioned no engagements by the F-16s.

An investigation team would deploy to the field to check the possibility a Russian strike drone hitting Romanian territory, the official statement said.

“The Ministry of National Defense has ordered measures to conduct investigations in the field, in the vicinity of Plauru, to search for possible objects that may have fallen on national territory,” the statement said in part.

More at the link.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

Ukraine Will Get Everything It Needs to Withstand and Achieve Its Goals – Address by the President

24 July 2024 – 20:02

I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!

I began today with a report on the work of the air defense – the completion of our warriors’ training and the deployment of Patriots in Ukraine.

Second. Today we have already quite thoroughly planned our work with foreign audiences for August and September. Information work, meetings and negotiations, participation in summits. Now, these weeks, even though it is the vacation season in the world, we cannot have any pauses. And especially there can be no pauses in communicating information about Ukraine – about our defense against Russian terror, about our needs. We already have a clear work schedule and pre-arranged meetings, including those with leaders, for the new political season in the world. Ukraine will get everything it needs to withstand and achieve its goals. Today, there were several reports that contributed to a clearer understanding of both tasks and needs. There was a report by the Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Oleh Ivashchenko, on what to expect in the near future and what opportunities Ukraine should definitely seize. We also talked in detail with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, about ensuring our military tasks for this month. We are preparing some news. I also spoke today with Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi, there was a report on the frontline situation and our defensive actions.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, who is visiting China these days, held talks with his counterpart and gave me a report on the results of the meeting. This is the first visit of a Ukrainian official at this level in many years. And this is good. There is a clear signal that China supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. It was also confirmed what Chinese leader Xi Jinping told me – that China will not supply weapons to Russia. I expect a detailed report from the Minister upon his return to Ukraine.

And one more thing. I spoke with our Olympic athletes. With the Ukrainian team that will represent our country and our Ukrainian people at the Summer Games in Paris this week. This is already an achievement for Ukrainians – that in the midst of such a war and full-scale Russian terror, we have prepared, we are still participating in the Olympics. Our flag and the Ukrainian anthem will be in France on par with all nations that respect life and the principles of Olympism. I thank everyone who helps Ukraine to preserve as many elements of normal life as possible – no matter what. I thank everyone who protected the principles of Olympism from distortion and prevented flags and the participation of a terrorist state in the Olympics. Putin is making sure that the only Russian sport today is killing people. And the world will never tolerate this. Russia must lose in war, lose in terror. Then life will win.

We are doing everything for that.

Glory to Ukraine!

The cost:

The US:

Today I had a productive call with my 🇺🇸 counterpart @SecDef Lloyd Austin.
We discussed the recent developments on the frontline and urgent battlefield needs.

I once again highlighted the importance and urgency of lifting the bans on long-range fires.

Ukraine must have the right to destroy the enemy’s airfields from which the fighting jets are bombing Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.

Germany:

From the Rheinmetall’s website:

Rheinmetall has now received its first important order from the Ukrainian government for the construction of an ammunition factory in the Ukraine, which was announced in February 2024, and marks the starting point for the realisation of the project. The order for the Duesseldorf-based technology group Rheinmetall covers the complete technical equipment of the factory through to commissioning. This involves a total value ranged in a low three-digit million euro range, which will be booked as incoming order at the start of the third quarter of 2024. It is foreseen to begin in short term and to be completed within a few years. The intention is to start the ammunition production in the Ukraine within 24 months. Together with its Ukrainian joint venture partner, Rheinmetall will also be responsible for operating the plant.

Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG: “We are putting our words into action and together with our partner we will create a Ukrainian competence centre for ammunition. The order underlines the confidence in Rheinmetall’s expertise and manufacturing capacities. We are grateful to be able to support the country in its re-industrialisation and in strengthening its defence capability”.

Measures are currently being taken in the Ukraine to prepare the necessary infrastructure. A joint venture between Rheinmetall and a Ukrainian state-owned company in operating the ammunition plant is about to be established. This was announced at a side-discussion at the Munich Security Conference in February 2024.

In June 2024, the CEO of Rheinmetall AG, Armin Papperger, and the Ukrainian Minister for Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, signed an agreement to expand the strategic cooperation at the “Ukraine Recovery Conference” in Berlin. A few days earlier, they opened an armour plant in western Ukraine, which is operated by the joint venture Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defence Industry LLC. The first Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) from Rheinmetall is to be handed over to the Ukrainian armed forces before the end of this year, and local production is to commence as soon as possible.

I’m guessing that the German for Ukraine still includes the German part of speech equivalent of “the.” Which would explain the unfortunate formulation in the announcement above.

Colonel-General Syrskyi sat for an interview with The Guardian.

Here are some excerpts:

Sitting on a stack of ammunition crates at a secret military base, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi was tight-lipped about when Ukraine will receive a long-awaited delivery of F-16 fighter jets. The Dutch and other allies have said they will arrive soon. This week? Or maybe August? “I know. But I can’t tell you about it, unfortunately,” he said, with an apologetic grin, as gulls squawked nearby.

Syrskyi is Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief. His unenviable task is to defeat a bigger Russian army. Two and half years into Vladimir Putin’s full-scale onslaught, he acknowledges the Russians are much better resourced. They have more of everything: tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, soldiers. Their original 100,000-strong invasion force has grown to 520,000, he said, with a goal by the end of 2024 of 690,000 men. The figures for Ukraine have not been made public.

“When it comes to equipment, there is a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3 in their favour,” he said. Since 2022 the number of Russian tanks has “doubled” – from 1,700 to 3,500. Artillery systems have tripled, and armoured personnel carriers gone up from 4,500 to 8,900. “The enemy has a significant advantage in force and resources,” Syrskyi said. “Therefore, for us, the issue of supply, the issue of quality, is really at the forefront.”

It is this man and machine superiority that explains recent events on the battlefield. Since last autumn Ukraine’s armed forces have been going steadily backwards. One of his first acts when he got the job in February 2024 – replacing Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK – was to order the withdrawal of his troops from the eastern city of Avdiivka. The retreat coincided with a six-month gap in the US supply of weapons.

More have recently arrived. The Russians, however, are still seizing fields and villages in the eastern Donbas, using airdropped bombs to blast a path forward. They have gobbled up territory north-west of Avdiivka, towards the garrison town of Pokrovsk, and besieged the hilltop settlement of Chasiv Yar. In May Russian forces opened a new front in the Kharkiv region, storming the city of Vovchansk. Ukraine anticipated this attack. Seemingly it couldn’t stop it.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, his first with a foreign newspaper as overall military chief, Syrskyi admitted things were “very difficult”. “The Russian aggressor attacks our positions in many directions,” he said. Could Russia’s advance be halted? “Yes, of course. First of all, it depends on our brave soldiers, our officers,” he said. Quite frequently “resilient and heroic” Ukrainian units defeated bigger enemy groups, he said.

By way of example, he cited Russia’s latest attempt to seize Kharkiv and the neighbouring province of Sumy. “It failed,” Syrskyi said. Fighting continued but he said Putin’s attempt to create a “so-called security corridor” next to Russia’s border and Belgorod region had been thwarted. What about rumours Moscow was planning another assault in the southern Zaporizhia region? If it happens “we can give them a good response”, he replied.

Overall, Syrskyi sought to put recent setbacks in context. He described Russia’s creeping victories as “tactical” ones – local gains rather than an “operational” breakthrough, such as the capture of a major city. “In principle, the enemy has not made any significant progress,” he said. The frontline, he added, was 3,700km long. Active hostilities were taking place across “977km” of it, or “twice the length of the border between Germany and France”.

Russia’s successes, meanwhile, came at a staggering human cost. The Kremlin’s casualties were “three times” higher than Ukraine’s, and “even more” in certain directions, Syrskyi said. “Their number of killed is much bigger,” he emphasised. In February Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 31,000 Ukrainian service personnel had died since 2022. Could Syrskyi update this figure? He declined, saying losses were “sensitive” and a topic Moscow could exploit.

Syrskyi contrasted his battlefield tactics with those used by Russian commanders, who are known for sacrificing huge numbers of infantry troops to gain “100 to 200 metres”. “It’s very important for us to save the lives of our soldiers. We don’t defend ruins to the death,” Syrskyi said. He said he was not willing to “achieve goals at any cost”, or to chuck his men into “futile meat assaults”. Sometimes it was necessary to move to “more favourable positions”.

Amid scepticism about Ukraine’s prospect of achieving outright victory, Syrskyi noted various positive developments. F-16s would strengthen Ukraine’s air defences. They would allow Kyiv to work more effectively against Russian cruise missiles and to hit ground targets accurately. However, there were limits to what F-16s might achieve, he stressed. They had to remain “40km or more” from the frontline because of the risk Moscow would shoot them down.

Russia had “superior aviation” and “very strong” air defences. Because of this Ukraine was increasingly turning to unmanned aerial systems, Syrskyi said. It used drones “very effectively” and was trying out “robotic ground systems” – land robots that could deliver ammunition or rescue a wounded soldier. There was a new unmanned systems command, the first of its kind. “We fight not by quantity but quality,” he said, adding that drones played “as big a role as artillery”.

Ukraine’s armed forces were successfully using long-range kamikaze drones to strike deep inside Russia, he said. So far they had targeted “about 200 critical infrastructure sites”. All were connected with “military logistics”, and included factories, fuel dumps and munition depots. Speedboat-like sea drones, meanwhile, had sunk about a third of Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet. “It really became a trap for them and for some [vessels] a grave,” Sryskyi said.

The Kremlin, he added, has been forced to “completely pull out” from the Crimean port of Sevastopol, after a series of Ukrainian attacks. Drone and missile strikes have wiped out radar and rocket installations. A key Ukrainian objective is to destroy the Kerch road and rail crossing connecting the occupied peninsula with Russia. Syrskyi declined to say when this might happen. Two earlier attempts featured a truck bomb and a drone strike.

He said Kyiv had a plan to get back Crimea, more than a decade after Vladimir Putin illegally annexed it. Was this really feasible? “It’s realistic. Of course, it’s a big military secret,” the general said. He continued: “We will do everything we can to reach the internationally recognised borders of 1991 [when Ukraine voted for independence from the USSR]. We have to win … to liberate our citizens who are in the occupied territories, who are suffering.”

Aged 58, Syrskyi was born in Vladimir, a city outside Moscow, in what was then the Soviet Union. Since the 1990s he has served in Ukraine’s armed forces. Critics accuse him of Soviet military thinking. Supporters describe him as a disciplined and talented commander who – in contrast to his charismatic predecessor, Zaluzhnyi – is often on the frontline. In February 2022, as head of ground forces, he led the defence of Kyiv. Zelenskiy made him a hero of Ukraine and six months ago promoted him to commander-in-chief.

Close up, Syrskyi is warm and personable. His handshake is suitably iron. Meeting Syrskyi involved cloak-and-dagger arrangements and a mysterious ride in a van. The Kremlin, you imagine, is keen to kill him. Aides built a small stage for his rare media appearance, with a camouflage netting backdrop.

Like many serving soldiers he sees his family rarely. “They suffer without me, so it’s maybe it’s an issue for me too,” he said. “But I know that we will win. I know how I have to do it. And I’m sure that we will do it.” The general says he doesn’t sleep “many hours”. In rare moments off he read books on Ukrainian history, in order to understand past “processes”. “We have brave people and a difficult history,” he observed.

One of Syrskyi’s most pressing challenges is to find new recruits to replace Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed and injured. Those fighting in trenches are exhausted. The patriotic fervour that led many in spring 2022 to volunteer has worn off. The government recently reduced the conscription age from 27 to 25. Last week a new law came into effect requiring men to register their details with military recruitment centres. Many have done so. Others are hiding.

More at the link!

Kharkiv:

The Kyiv Independent has the details:

Russian forces used an Iskander missile armed with cluster munitions in a “double-tap” attack on an industrial facility in Kharkiv on July 24, Volodymyr Tymoshko, the head of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast, said in a comment to Suspilne.

The Russian military launched multiple attacks against the northeastern city of Kharkiv throughout July 24, injuring at least nine people and damaging a Swiss NGO office.

Tymoskhko said that one of the targets, an industrial site, was attacked repeatedly, including one strike with cluster munitions.

“At 5:00 in the morning, a completely civilian object was hit, then two strikes on an industrial facility in Kharkiv, an hour later the same object was hit with a cluster munition,” Tymoshko told Suspilne.

“We are absolutely sure that the second time they used cluster munitions to hit the rescuers and police officers who were there.”

Rescue workers had already cleared the area shortly before the missile hit, Tymoshko said.

Russian forces have been known to target first responders by hitting previously damaged sites a second time shortly after a first attack, a tactic known as “double-tap” strikes.

Over the past months, Russia’s  “double-tap” attacks have escalated, killing nearly 30 rescue workers in Odesa, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia and wounding more than 20 in March and April of 2024 alone.

“It’s a miracle that both the rescuers and the police left the site 10 minutes before the second strike,” Tymoshko said.

“However, they hit with a cluster, the cluster scattered over a large area and injured people who were passing by the private enterprise on the street or were in the private sector located nearby.”

Tymoshenko said that markings on fragments of the weapons found on scene indicate that the missile was manufactured in the second quarter of 2024.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russia of using cluster munitions to target civilian areas. These weapons “spray” small bomblets across a wide area, with some of them detonating long after the attack, posing a continued danger to the local population.

Attacks on population centers in Kharkiv Oblast intensified after Russian forces launched a new cross-border offensive in the northern part of the region in May.

Pokrovsk:

Deep State reported last night that part of the servicemen of the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 31st Brigade may become surrounded in the Lozuvatske district. And this morning, the enemy also moved past Tymofyyvka.

Ukrainians struggled to defend against enemy forces trying to encircle them near Progress. South of Lozuvatske, the enemy has created a bottleneck, threatening positions west of height 236.9, using tactics to advance towards Ivanovka. The situation became critical after a chaotic retreat by another infantry brigade over the weekend. Reinforcements from the 47th Brigade were unable to hold back the numerically superior enemy.

https://t.me/DeepStateUA/19955

The 31st Brigade’s leadership allegedly insists they hold their ground to the last soldier despite losses.

I think this is in Khurakove, Pokrovsk:

Soldiers of the 79th Brigade repelled one of the largest Russian assaults. In total 57 AFVs, 12 motorcycles and 200 infantrymen attacked from different directions.

Russian army simultaneously used 11 tanks, 45 APCs with infantry and 1 BMPT ‘Terminator’.

As a result of the battle, 6 tanks and 7 APCs with infantry were knocked out. All 12 motorbikes were burnt. Russians suffered losses in manpower: 40 were killed, another 37 were wounded.

After knocking out the first tanks and armored vehicles, other vehicles rushed to flee the battlefield. Drone operators finished off the infantry that ran around the landings.

https://t.me/odshbr79/244

Novomykhailivka:

Vovchansk:

WE DESTROYED ANOTHER RUSSIAN «TIGER» but they payed us back…

Near Vovchansk our company is working every day trying to destroy their logistics, places where they are hiding, assault groups.

And we managed to destroy another «Tiger» but Russian FPV…👇🧵

30 clicks south of Donetsk:

Obligatory:

Moscow:

Here’s the full text of the first tweet:

This morning in Moscow, Andrei Torgashov, Deputy Chief of the 89th Satellite Communications Center of the Russian Armed Forces, was blown up in his Toyota Land Cruiser.

The explosion occurred in a parking lot on Sinyavinskaya Street. Torgashov’s legs were torn off.

The cause of the car explosion was the detonation of an explosive device.

And the second tweet:

/2. In Russian media there is a discussion about who was blown up in a car in Moscow this morning. Andrei Torgashov said that he was not in the car that was blown up in Moscow.

But at the same time, according to Russian media BAZA – “At the time of the explosion, Torgashov’s namesake (both by name and surname) was in the car. And at the same time he also serves in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”

That’s enough for tonight.

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Reader Interactions

12Comments

  1. 1.

    Gin & Tonic

    I’m guessing that the German for Ukraine still includes the German part of speech equivalent of “the.”

    Yes, in German it is properly “die Ukraine.” Most country names take a definite article in German.

  2. 2.

    Gin & Tonic

    In Russian media there is a discussion about who was blown up in a car in Moscow this morning.

    Torgashov may or may not have been in that car, but it’s pretty clear that economist Valentina Bondarenko “fell” out a window to her death in a completely unrelated incident.

  6. 6.

    Jay

    https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/07/24/this-is-a-one-way-ticket

    ‘This is a one-way ticket’ Inside the Russian military unit that’s lost so many soldiers it’s known as the ‘Bermuda Triangle’</blockquote

    snip

    Bykov and his fellow new recruits were put under the command of “officers” from the DNR. Their commander greeted them by saying, “The Russian meat has arrived,” his sister Tatyana Anufrieva told Bereg.

    snip

    The relatives of multiple soldiers said the commanders called the new recruits “Moskals” (a derogatory term for Russians) and “screamed in their faces,” saying, “You came here to make money? Then go work — your families will rejoice at the millions [in compensation for your death].”

    snip

    The commanders paid no mind to the losses among the mobilized Russians, sending them to carry out assaults without artillery support. According to Anufrieva, those who refused were beaten and threatened with “zeroing” — a slang term for execution. “They didn’t kill them right there at the base, they’d take them to a field in their underwear and a T-shirt. They’d give them a knife or a sapper’s shovel — and that was it, goodbye. They didn’t return to the unit.”

    snip

    According to the rank-and-file’s relatives, the 1st Slavyansk Brigade’s commanders extorted money for everything. Tatyana Anufrieva said her brother’s commander demanded “tens of thousands” of rubles for a “break,” 200,000 rubles (about $2,275) to skip a combat mission, and 500,000 rubles (almost $5,700) to sit out combat missions for a couple of months. (For comparison, the minimum monthly salary for a Russian soldier fighting in Ukraine is 210,000 rubles, or about $2,400.) The commanders also took a significant cut of the compensation payments made to wounded servicemen.

    Gee, they have quite the brotherly relationship.

  8. 8.

    Jay

    Russia Is Returning Ukrainian POW’s Bodies Without Internal Organs
    Jul 24, 2024 17:30
    2 min read
    Authors
    Maryna Kulakova

    The prisoners of war’s bodies are returning to Ukraine without internal organs and could be evidence that they are being used for transplants in Russia.

    This was discussed at a meeting in Ankara between representatives of the families of prisoners of war and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar, according to Ukrinform.

    “Today it is already known for sure that we receive the bodies of tortured prisoners of war (during the exchange of bodies). We receive not only tortured bodies, but bodies that, unfortunately, are without organs. This confirms the fact that the black market for organ transplantation in the Russian Federation is working. And, unfortunately, it is working with our prisoners of war. Therefore, I believe that this must be said to the whole world in order to stop this crime,” said the wife of one of the prisoners of war, a defender of the Mariupol garrison.

    https://united24media.com/latest-news/russia-is-returning-ukrainian-pows-bodies-without-internal-organs-1382

  9. 9.

    way2blue

    Can we hope that Kamala will have a more functional approach toward supporting Ukraine in its fight to liberate its people & its land?

  11. 11.

    Jesse

    Just to comment on the “die Ukraine” thing in German: Some country’s names have a definite article, but most don’t. (Two of note: “der Iran”, “die USA”, not unlike how we ourselves say “The United States of America”.) To my knowledge, though, there’s no movement to insist on not using the article for Ukraine, as one sees in certain circles in the US (including this very almost top 10000 blog). Make of that what you will.

  12. 12.

    wjca

    @Jay: Hope is not a strategy,………

    Of course.  But we are not in need of a strategy.  (At least, I don’t see that we, individually, are.)

    It does occur to me that Harris likely already has a National Security Adviser in place.  That doesn’t guarantee a different perspective, of course.  But it does offer more prospect for a new approach than trying to change the existing folks’ minds.

Comments are closed.