(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Just a quick note: Rosie is still doing great. Thank you all for the good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations to help cover her chemo.
Russia is bombarding Kharkiv again during the small hours:
Explosions in Kharkiv ‼️ russian glide bombs. 3:40 AM
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 8:39 PM
At 10:00 PM EST/5:00 AM local time in Ukraine, air raid alerts are up for all of central north and eastern Ukraine.
And about that world war people keep telling me isn’t happening:
You know what is funny?
When russia uses Iranian drones to kill us, it’s fine
When russia uses North Korean missiles, shells, and troops to kill us, it’s fine
When russia recruits Yemeni to join the fight against us, it is ok
But if we dare to defend ourselves OMG ITS WW3!!
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 11:42 AM
Notice how Ru’s nuclear sabre rattling always tracks various Western decisions; it never follows Ukr actions— Kerch bridge attack, drones in Moscow, Kursk incursion, etc. Illustrates that Ru knows that Ukr knows it’s a bluff; the fear-mongering only works on the gullible West.
— Maria Popova (@popovaprof.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 8:59 AM
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
Russia Must Feel That Every Step It Takes to Expand the War Has Consequences for It – Address by the President
24 November 2024 – 20:08
Dear Ukrainians! And all our partners!
As we come to the end of the week – the week in which Russia took yet another step to expand the war by striking Ukraine with a new missile – it’s important for us to acknowledge and thank everyone who has taken new steps to support our nation, our people, and our life. Ukraine has friends. Ukraine has those it can rely on, and because of this, we are able to respond to Russian terror and defend lives.
This week brought new defense packages. Denmark committed close to a billion kroner – funds that will support our defense industry. Norway has prepared the first tranche, which, following the Danish model, will support arms production, specifically production in Ukraine. Sweden will also contribute funding following Denmark’s model. The United States has approved a $275 million package, including munitions for HIMARS, as well as Javelins, drones, and mines that we urgently need to defend positions, particularly in the Donetsk region. Germany has provided a new package as well. There is a new NASAMS from Canada. I am deeply grateful for every single step like this. Sanctions are no less important – this week we have new US sanctions against Russia, very effective ones against the banking sector. These measures significantly weaken Putin’s system, and we need more of them. He must constantly lose the means to finance its war – week after week. And no matter how much Russia tries to blackmail everyone it can, we must not lose our resolve, we must keep pushing, and only in this way will real peace become closer.
Today, Ukraine’s Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs presented media agencies with fragments of the Russian missile that struck Dnipro. Experts are currently analyzing the evidence and working with our partners to establish all the details and specifications of this missile, and to find a response together to this latest Russian escalation. The world has air defense systems capable of countering such threats. Everyone must focus on this. Russia must feel that every step it takes to expand the war has consequences for it.
Those consequences are reflected in our actions at the front, in the actions of our warriors, our units. They are also reflected in the actions of the world, in how the world responds. Putin cannot be given a single week to adapt or find countermeasures. We must consistently do everything to force Russia into seeking peace – true peace. This can only be achieved through two things: helping Ukraine and pressuring Russia. I thank everyone around the world who is doing just that – standing with us, with Ukraine, with the Ukrainian people. I thank all our people who are fighting and working for the sake of Ukraine.
Glory to Ukraine!
Here’s last night’s Ukrainian air defense tally:
⚡️ Ukraine downs 50 of 73 Russian drones in overnight attack, Air Force says.
Ukraine shot down 50 of the 73 drones launched by Russia overnight on Nov. 24, the Air Force reported. There have been no reports of casualties or damage.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) November 24, 2024 at 3:24 AM
From The Kyiv Independent:
Ukraine shot down 50 of the 73 drones launched by Russia overnight on Nov. 24, the Air Force reported.
Russia reportedly targeted Ukraine with Shahed drones and an unspecified type of drone launched from the Russian oblasts of Oryol and Bryansk.
The drones were downed over Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, and Zhytomyr oblasts, according to the Air Force. There have been no reports of casualties or damage.
As of 9 a.m. local time, four Russian drones remained in Ukrainian airspace, with combat operations ongoing.
Kyiv authorities reported in the morning that air defense forces shot down more than a dozen drones targeting the capital.
“Preliminary reports indicate no damage in the capital, and no information about casualties has been received,” the Kyiv City Military Administration wrote on Telegram.
Russia has increased large-scale drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, depleting Ukraine’s air defense systems and targeting critical infrastructure.
On Nov. 17, Russian forces launched one of the heaviest aerial strikes of the full-scale war, primarily targeting the energy grid. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 102 of the 120 missiles and 42 of the 90 drones launched overnight.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), reported on Nov. 18 that Russian forces are using cheap decoy drones with foreign components to overload Ukraine’s air defense systems.
According to HUR, Russian manufacturers produce the Gerbera drone — a cheaper and less deadly equivalent of Iran’s Shahed — at a plant in Yelabuga, in the Republic of Tatarstan, central Russia. These drones are reportedly made with components from the United States, China, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
The Kursk cross border offensive:
General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces regarding tonight’s missile strike on Kursk, allegedly Russian S-400 radar system was targeted: t.me/GeneralStaff…
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 4:02 AM
Kherson:
#Kherson is under another attack now. Loud explosions.
📷 Driving down the central street in a car previously attacked by a drone.
— Zarina Zabrisky (@zarinazabrisky.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 2:10 PM
Kyiv:
Kyiv currently under attack by Russian/Iranian Shahed attack drones. Loud in my part of western Kyiv (like in video), and they’re all over the capital. Earlier, monitors predicted around 80 drone launches, attacking around the country.
— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 4:50 PM
bsky.app/profile/marg…
— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 4:54 PM
Zaporizhzhya also under mass Russian drone attack. In Kyiv, in Dniprovsky district in the left (eastern bank) a residential building has been hit, probably by debris from a shot-down drone, and the top (9th) floor is on fire.
— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 5:22 PM
Donestk Oblast:
⚡️Russia preparing to break through to southern Donetsk Oblast, military says.
“The enemy is trying to break through to the south of Donetsk region, where Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts meet,” Southern Command Spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn said.
— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) November 24, 2024 at 3:44 PM
From The Kyiv Independent:
Russian forces are preparing to break through to the southern part of Donetsk Oblast, Vladyslav Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command, said on Nov. 24.
Kyiv has been warning of a potential Russian offensive in the south, as Moscow’s troops continue advancing in Ukraine’s eastern regions.
“The enemy is trying to break through to the south of Donetsk region, where Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts meet,” Voloshyn told Apostrophe TV.
Voloshyn said the push would likely concentrate around Velyka Novosilka, one of the largest settlements in the area. Russian troops are also gearing up for assault operations in the direction of Orikhiv and Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
“There is a high probability that the enemy will also launch assault operations, trying to break into our defense,” he said.
Russian forces are creating assault groups, transferring ammunition, and conducting aerial reconnaissance with drones, Voloshyn said, citing Ukrainian intelligence. These actions signal preparations for an upcoming offensive.
“In addition, the enemy is actively trying to hit the previously scouted areas in these areas… and is finding out where our firepower is located, trying to suppress and destroy it to make it easier for them to conduct assault operations,” he said.
Ukrainian forces have been preparing for a Russian push in the south. Voloshyn on Nov. 12 said that Russia could launch a renewed assault on Zaporizhzhia Oblast “any day.” Ukraine is busy building heavy fortifications near Zaporizhzhia, the military told the Economist on Nov. 24.
Earlier in October, Voloshyn said that Russian forces were massing for a breakthrough in the direction of Orikhiv and Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The area was the main axis of Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive in 2023, which led to the liberation of the settlement of Robotyne but achieved no major results.
Russia is currently gaining territory in eastern Ukraine at a rapid rate, seizing towns in Donetsk Oblast at the cost of heavy personnel losses.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Nov. 2. that Ukraine is now facing “one of the most powerful” Russian offensives since the start of the all-out war.
Pokrovsk:
Spent exclusive day with the 14th Regiment near Pokrovsk. Drones are helping Ukraine make up for limited artillery—they’re precise and hit key targets like Russian air defense systems or Buk launcher. Ivasyk, who joined 8 months ago, put it best: “Russia won’t bomb itself—we gotta get back to work.”
— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 8:06 AM
Speaking of bombing Russia, there’s a lot of stuff going boom and burning there tonight.
Kaluga Oblast:
Kaluga in russia decided to burn some of its oil out of the blue
— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 7:14 PM
Drone attack on Russian oil refinery in Kaluga region of Russia is reported.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 6:02 PM
/2. Oil refinery in Kaluga, Russia, burning after the drone attack
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 6:24 PM
And a Russian plane caught fire upon landing in Turkey.
Antalya airport:
Russian passenger plane caught fire at Antalya airport.
The fire occurred on board the Sukhoi Superjet 100-95LR aircraft of Azimut Airlines, which arrived from Sochi, Russia.
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 2:40 PM
/2. Video of Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100-95LR catching fire in Antalya
— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) November 24, 2024 at 3:20 PM
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
A new video from Patron’s official TikTok:
@patron__dsns Земля – дивна річ, чи не так? Вона може здаватися твердою, як скеля, або м’якою, як ковдра під ногами, коли ти йдеш ранковою росою. Вона може обіймати коріння дерев, тримати фундаменти наших домівок. Але буває, що землю вкривають і страхи. Міни. Боєприпаси. Речі, яких земля не мала б бачити, а тим більше — торкатися. Проте вони є. Замість врожаїв і квітів, замість дитячих босоногих кроків. Але й є ті, хто робить землю такою, як вона і повинна бути — чистою і безпечною. Це сапери. Вони йдуть туди, де кожен крок — це ризик. І вони свідомо обирають цей ризик, щоб захистити нас із вами. А коли цей ризик, на жаль, наздоганяє їх, сапери опиняються перед іншим випробуванням: як почати жити заново. Вони втрачають значно більше, ніж просто час або сили. Сапери втрачають частини себе, справжні, фізичні. Поранення важке, але життя триває. Наприклад, як у сапера Артема Посоха. На жаль, він втратив ногу при розмінуванні. Після болю та усвідомлення був довгий шлях протезування та реабілітації… І от він сам сів за кермо і подолав аж 1400 кілометрів, аби обійняти своїх рідних 🥹А є і такі, як Михайло Пугач, який зараз робить перші, несміливі, але тверді кроки у центрі Superhumans. І робить їх завдяки вашій підтримці та донатам ❤️🩹 Я збираю гроші для таких, як вони. Бо коли приходить біда — вони лишаються наодинці зі своєю найважчою битвою. Битвою за звичне життя. За можливість знову стати на ноги, обійняти рідних, відчути міцність землі під собою. І я дуже хочу, аби ми допомогли їм виграти у цій битві! Адже нам усім потрібна безпечна земля. Нам усім потрібні ті, які робитимуть її такою. Як і ті, що житимуть на ній. Ходитимуть босими ногами і збиратимуть квіти. Посилання на банку мого фонду можна знайти тут у шапці профілю, в тауож у хайлайтс «Добро» в моєму інст. А ось мій PayPal: [email protected] Дякую кожному за найменший донатик у мій фонд! Ви перетворюєте кожну гривню на речі, яким ціни немає! І лизь всім, хто долучиться до збору (грошима, репостиком чи добрим словом у коментарях ❤️) 👅 #песпатрон
Here’s the machine translation of the caption:
The earth is a strange thing, isn’t it? It can feel as hard as a rock or as soft as a blanket underfoot when you walk through the morning dew. It can hug the roots of trees, hold the foundations of our homes. But sometimes the earth is also covered with fears. Mines. Ammunition. Things that the earth should not see, let alone touch. But they are there. Instead of harvests and flowers, instead of children’s barefoot steps.
But there are also those who make the land the way it should be – clean and safe. These are sappers.
They are going where every step is a risk. And they consciously choose this risk to protect us. And when this risk unfortunately catches up with them, sappers face another challenge: how to start living again. They lose much more than just time or strength. Sappers lose parts of themselves, real, physical parts. The injury is severe, but life goes on. For example, like sapper Artem Posokh. Unfortunately, he lost his leg in a mine clearance. After the pain and realization, there was a long way of prosthetics and rehabilitation… And now he got behind the wheel and traveled 1400 kilometers to hug his family 🥹 And there are those like Mykhailo Pugach, who is now taking his first, timid but firm steps at the Superhumans center. And he makes them thanks to your support and donations ❤️🩹
I raise money for people like them. Because when trouble comes, they are left alone with their most difficult battle. The battle for a normal life. For the opportunity to get back on their feet, to hug their families, to feel the strength of the ground beneath them. And I really want us to help them win this battle!
After all, we all need a safe land. We all need those who will make it so. As well as those who will live on it. They will walk barefoot and pick flowers.
The link to my foundation’s bank account can be found here in the profile header, and in the “Dobro” highlights on my instagram. And here is my PayPal: [email protected]
Thank you to everyone for the smallest donation to my fund! You turn every hryvnia into things that cannot be priced!
And lick everyone who contributes to the collection (with money, reposting or a kind word in the comments. ❤️) 👅 #песпатрон
Open thread!
Gloria DryGarden
something happened in the translation. Other than that confusing line, Very beautiful life affirming piece
dp
Thanks for using BlueSky links instead of the accursed former Twitter!
Jay
As always, thank you, Adam.
Gin & Tonic
@Gloria DryGarden: That’s the voice of Patron the dog, who often wishes people licks (think happy pup.)
AlaskaReader
Thanks Adam
rekoob
@Gloria DryGarden: Perhaps “licks” or “kisses” in gratitude for financial/moral support. Translating verbs into nouns this time (in an earlier thread, I noted that English often turns nouns into verbs).
Jay
https://united24media.com/latest-news/russia-operates-systematic-torture-network-for-ukrainian-prisoners-of-war-intelligence-reports-3963
YY_Sima Qian
OT: Lots of sensible advise from Kelly Grieco & Evan Cooper on FP for the incoming Administration:
Then you remember that such advise would fall on deaf ears of the collection of orthodox primacists that dominate any Dem administration, let alone the cast of the most unvarnished & unapologetic militarists-hegemonists that will dominate the Trump Administration.
Gloria DryGarden
@YY_Sima Qian: I don’t know what is an orthodox primacist.
This seems like great advice, and even if money is the only thing the incoming guy thinks of, he might go for coalitions that create good economic relations. Maybe, somehow. Especially if the alternative is the other countries won’t even deal with us if we carry on like hegemons. (Thank you orson Scott card, that I have any idea what that is. I’ve never heard this word discussed except in those book)
Gloria DryGarden
@Gin & Tonic: oh, I get it now.
YY_Sima Qian
A US “Primacist” is someone who believes in US Primacy on the world stage, taking & maintaining (by whatever means necessary) the position as the dominant economic/military/financial/cultural player over everyone else (be they adversaries/competitors/neutrals/partners/allies). I call them “orthodox” because US Primacy is the orthodoxy in the US’ foreign policy establishment circles, whether it is dressed up as “US led/liberal/rules based international order” under the guise of “liberal internationalism”, or the more honest “liberal hegemony”.
Gloria DryGarden
@Jay: so, it’s kind of like rape? Rip a person open, tear them down, aid them to feel like worthless pieces of shit, make them desperate and despairing and helpless and ashamed. Like that? Engender apathy. Take all the fight out of them. Is this what it means to demoralize someone?
Like that?
Gloria DryGarden
Wow, I needed this word! USA Primacy has been a thing- you describe it so well- but I don’t see how it can last in these upcoming circumstances. It seems the playing field might get leveled a bit. We might get eaten for lunch…
Too bad, if USA was holding back authoritarians from taking over other countries. But much better for others in terms of your description above, taking and imposing culturaleconomic outcomes. I don’t know much about the delicate dance of international diplomacy, but it seems it would be good to back off.
i can look up the italicized words as search terms, learn more about it. I’ve phrased it as being world bullies, but this sounds more descriptive in politics- speak.
Jay
@Gloria DryGarden:
Yes, and,
It’s also to break them as a functioning person.
YY_Sima Qian
The reactionary, anti-establishment wave hits Romania:
Georgescu appears to be a Euro-skeptic.
Traveller
I have some experience with Romania and the Carpathians….I suppose I could make contact with some mildly official people…but instead, I’ll just leave here a story or two:
Bear baiting…a captured bear would be dropped into a deep pit or held in a metal cage in the forest outside of town…and for a few Leu you’d be given a spiked 10′ pole and you could torture the animal for a few minutes, poking and sticking it, maybe it would be you that would finally land the fatal blow.
This sounds terrible I know…but bears were a real menace to all forms of humans, but equally bad, the loss of sheep or worse, a cow, could mean the village would nearly or actually would starve in the harsh 4 to 5 months of deeply freezing winter. Ahh the adventure of driving on those ice-slick roads!!!
If I was in a town of sorts, I’d just skid through 3 intersections before I’d be able able to bring the car to a stop on some relatively flat ground. (a happy time in my life…I was a rock star…lol) Traveller
YY_Sima Qian
OT: Utterly risible take from the WP‘s Editorial Board, the Orwellian doublespeak is reaching the farcical level more appropriate for the Onion:
How could the ICC (& the Western countries that tend to champion it against non-Western countries) have any credibility prosecuting war crimes everywhere else (including in Ukraine) if it makes an exception for Israeli war crimes & crimes against humanity?
Any semblance of international order is collapsing in front of our eyes, & willful ignorance of Israeli war crimes is as large a wrecking ball as meekness in face of Putin’s aggression & chaos sowing, or not pushing back against PRC & Indian acts of coercion in their neighborhoods or transnational repression, or for that matter failing to take the US to account for its militarism.
This is the right take:
frosty
As you mentioned, “yeah, right” (paraphrasing). They wrote this after the election? I guess it must have been already written and ready to publish.
ETA As soon as I see the word “should” in some op-ed I move on. Especially “the Democrats should …” The writers have no power, no connections, and nothing will come of their words. It’s a waste of time to read it.
YY_Sima Qian
OT: This is genuinely good news! Assuming the ceasefire comes to pass, holds, & Israel does not take the opportunity to escalate w/ Iran (thinking Hezbollah will not be in a position to reopen the northern front):
YY_Sima Qian
@frosty: In this case, the value is in the analysis & advise, as it goes against the current FP mainstream/orthodoxy in DC.
It would have been good advise for an incoming Harris Administration, too. In fact, I suspect the piece was written for a Harris Administration, & they just had to edit it to change Harris to Trump.
Ksmiami
Fucking destroy Russia. Worthless degenerate country