Zelensky Admits Fear of Trump 2024, Begs for More Patriot Missile Systems

https://www.breitbart.com/euro...iot-missile-systems/

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that he is afraid of a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2024, before begging for more American-made Patriot missile systems.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted he has concerns about the possible re-election of Donald Trump next year, saying that he was unsure how exactly the Republican leader would have reacted had Russia invaded during his presidency.

The Ukrainian head-of-state also praised the response of the Biden administration, which has regularly handed over billions of dollars worth of weapons aid to the Eastern European nation since Moscow’s invasion began last year.

Asked how he felt about Donald Trump, Zelensky admitted that he was more comfortable with dealing with Biden and that the return of a Republican-led government could end up being difficult for his war effort.

The Ukrainian President concluded that “50 Patriots” would be enough to protect Ukraine from Russian air attacks “for the most part”, implying that such weapons would be extremely beneficial to any Ukrainian counteroffensive.

At present, Ukraine has at least two Patriot batteries, which include launchers, a powerful radar system, a control station and other equipment. Zelesnky’s request for as many as 50, therefore, would be a massive ask for the Western world, with each individual Patriot platform reportedly costing over one billion dollars.

More at link

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Zelensky Admits Fear of Trump 2024, Begs for More Patriot Missile Systems

Zelensky does not have an unfounded fear. Trump has said publicly he would end this in one day. I for one believe Trump. He has a stellar track record for not getting us into bullshit wars like this one.

I also find it interesting that Zelensky doesn't know how Trump would have reacted had Russia invaded during his presidency. My key takeaway is that Russia didn't invade during a Trump presidency. Gee, I wonder why Russia didn't while Trump was in office yet they were unafraid before and after his term?

The more I get into the Ukraine situation the more I become a die hard Trump supporter.

Well the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River reservoir finally broke this morning. Both sides have accused each other of planning to destroy it ever since Ukraine retook Kherson City downstream of it last year, and naturally are accusing each other of having done it now. It may have simply collapsed from progressive structural damage and lack of maintenance of course; it was already damaged during the fighting for Kherson more than half a year ago. However, the timing is suspicious with Ukraine apparently having decided to launch their long-expected counter-offensive for real this week.

There is continued shelling and fighting by "Russian (and allegedly, Polish) volunteers" in the Belgorod border region of Russia proper in the north, probably meant as a diversion to stretch Russisn defenses further and, as I suspect, possibly to prepare the ground for an incursion by actual Ukrainian forces further south which could then cross back into occupied Ukrainian territory and turn the Russian flank towards the Donbas; thrusts north and south of Bakhmut in the east after the depleted Wagner mercenary force withdrew from the recently-taken city and were replaced by regular Russian troops; and also against the "Vremievsky Salient" in the southeast, where two of the new Western-equipped assault brigades are claimed to be involved, evidenced by images of French-supplied AMX-10RC wheeled tank destroyer/reconnaissance vehicles (misidentified by Russian sources as Leopard MBTs in a rerun of the good old WW II "any enemy tank is a Tiger" panic).

Not least, Ukraine had recently occupied several Dnipro islands downstream of the dam, which they now have to evacuate under fire; it's not entirely clear whether the flood will more help them here by washing away Russian defenses on the lower terrain on the south bank, or hinder them by widening the water obstacle they'd have to cross for any offensive in the area.

Bansheeone,
I noticed you are using Rybar maps. Are you not concerned with the validity since Rybar is reported to be a Russian propaganda entity?

Actually I recommended Rybar as a source for Russian viewpoints two pages back. They're clearly biased, and I wouldn't trust them as a sole source, but they provide a good look into the "moderate" Russian pro-war blogosphere (moderate being, as always, a relative term - al-Qaeda is moderate compared to ISIS, since at least they don't burn people alive in cages). I find their maps pretty good, and it helps that they provide them in several languages; though I always check them against liveuamap.com, which has a clearly pro-Ukrainian bend.

The important point remains to follow various sources with different, but known bias to triangulate something approaching the truth. Within the pro-Russian camp, Rybar is located in the midly government-critical range, somewhat close to Yevgeny Prigozhin (AKA "Putin's chef"), the head of the Wagner PMC. Though the latter is much more outspoken; in fact Rybar have mentioned that being critical towards official Russian policy is good for being cited by Western sources, so it may be a bit of a ploy.

At any rate they make for much better insight than Western pro-Russian sources which largely function simply as laundry shops for Russian propaganda aimed at a clueless audience which doesn't understand the original language. ZeroHedge is a particularly egregious example; I follow them, too, along with several German pro-Russian blogs, but they're pretty much a one-stop triangulation point - you go there to learn what is not the truth.

Speaking of the dam.

quote:

FOXbusiness.com: Ukrainian dam destruction sends global prices of wheat, corn soaring

Russia, Ukraine have accused each other of destroying dam, though neither claim has been substantiated

By Bradford Betz FOXBusiness

The destruction of a major dam in southern Ukraine has sent global prices of corn and wheat soaring, reversing this year’s fall in prices after a major spike caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In early trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday, wheat prices gained 2.4% to $6.39 a bushel. The cost of corn rose more than 1%, or more than to $6 a bushel, and oats gained 0.73%, or $3.46 per unit.

ROSAL

Yeeeaaaahhhhhh, more conflict inflation!

Damn dam.

If the break wasn't simply the result of previous damage which happened to become critical just as the Ukrainians counter-offensive kicked off, means and motive remain somewhat dubious. The Russians were in actual control of the dam and reportedly ran up water levels, in part to build up fresh water reserves for Crimea via the canal that was one of the main reasons to seize Southern Ukraine to begin with. Obviously you would do that if you wanted the most devastating flood while securing fresh water supply for Crimea. OTOH, the Russians are blaming artillery fire by Ukraine for the breakdown, and point out that the latter hasn't closed the gates on several other dams under their own control upstream, which you would do if you wanted to mitigate the flooding.

Then again, Russia had long evacuated settlements on the more vulnerable south bank and recently pulled back troops, ceding the islands (or rather, pieces of land between the river arms) at Kherson to the Ukrainians, which now have a bear withdrawing from them under fire. Today, there are reports that the Russians also blew up several ponds in two villages south of the reservoir and west of Melitopol and (Peremoshne and Annovka) after having previously filled them to max water levels, flooding fields and the M-14 highway towards Kherson to the north. If that's correct, it would indeed point to a systematic use of floodings to hinder a Ukrainian offensive.

The problem I have with this line of thought however is "and then what?“ Yeah, you get momentary protection from a Ukrainian offensive from Kherson; at first the water obstacle of the Dnipro increases, then when it recedes it will leave the notorious Ukrainian black soil mud in which military movements have always bogged down for months every year during rain season. But in two or three months when the water has drained and the mud dried up, the area will me more open than before - you don't get to simply build a new dam, create a new reservoir, and do it all over again. The same applies to the flooding of M-14, so if that is to replace the draining water barrier of the Dnipro reservoir if the latter is by accident or Ukrainian action, it comes a little early.

Almost the only way it would make sense is if you thought the Ukrainians will completely spend themselves in their offensive, and/or the war will be over by fall. I don't think even the Russians themselves believe at this point that they can build up sufficient strength to go on the offensive again this year. One pretty stark implication would be that they may be preparing to withdraw from the entire south of Ukraine, maybe except Crimea, under cover of the flooding. I have a really hard time believing that, but they abandoned Kherson when their position became untenable, too. Maybe they have come to the conclusion that Storm Shadow etc. have put their logistics under a threat to the point of imminent collapse in the face of the Ukrainian offensive.

FBI helps Ukraine censor Twitter users and obtain their info, including journalists

https://mate.substack.com/p/fb...rue&utm_medium=email

If Ukraine shelled this dam with our HIMARS and then the dam failed as a result of this weakening, who would bear the blame? It also provides political cover for Ukraine if they are unable to launch an offensive at this time. I have no idea about what the truth is but I know our country has consistently been lying to the public for years now. All of our institutions are corrupted along with the media.
Is the truth out there ?

^^^Nope, it's all Propaganda...ALL of it!

Tell me again why this benefits Russia.


Russian troops ‘swept away’ by flooding from Ukraine dam collapse

https://nypost.com/2023/06/07/...kraine-dam-collapse/

Russian troops were seen being swept away by raging floodwaters and running for their lives after the Nova Khakovka dam collapsed, according to a Ukrainian officer.

Capt. Andrei Pidlisnyi told CNN that at the time of the dam breach early Tuesday, “no one on the Russian side was able to get away. All the regiments the Russians had on that side were flooded.”

The officer suggested that Vladimir Putin’s soldiers may not have received an advance warning of what he claimed to be a Russian attack.

According to Pidlisnyi, the flooding killed or injured many enemy troops stationed on the east bank of the Dnipro River, which is under Russian control.

More at link

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
If Ukraine shelled this dam with our HIMARS and then the dam failed as a result of this weakening, who would bear the blame?

You're kidding, right?

quote:

Tell me again why this benefits Russia.

Russian troops ‘swept away’ by flooding from Ukraine dam collapse

Russia doesn't care about casualties. They clear minefields by marching men over them.

As for who blew up the Dontgiva Dam, you can't believe anything coming out of there.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
[QUOTE]Tell me again why this benefits Russia.

As for who blew up the Dontgiva Dam, you can't believe anything coming out of there.

Or coming out of here either.

Russia claims Ukraine blasted grain deal's ammonia pipeline

https://www.middleeastmonitor....ls-ammonia-pipeline/

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed, on Wednesday, that Ukraine's armed forces intentionally blasted the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in the Kharkiv region, which is mentioned in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, the Ministry's spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said several people were injured in the blast.

"On 5 June, at about 21:00 Moscow time (1800GMT), in the area of the settlement of Masyutovka, Kharkiv region, a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group blew up the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline. As a result of this terrorist act, there are victims among the civilian population," Konashenkov said.

The official noted that ammonia continues draining through the damaged sections of the pipeline.

Commenting on the incident, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, recalled that the restoration of supplies through the pipeline is one of the terms of the grain deal.

Zakharova stressed that the Ukrainian side had been refusing to implement the part of the agreement on the pipeline under different pretexts.


"It can already be stated that the only country that has never been interested in resuscitating the pipeline was Ukraine," she added.

The diplomat pointed out that right after the incident, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said it was possible to repair the pipe "if necessary", but not to resume the supplies of fertilizers.

The spokeswoman said Kyiv initially put forward as the condition for the restoration of ammonia supplies the return of the control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, then demanded additional preferences for the grain deliveries.

"Finally, taking into account the growing pressure, because the supply of Russian ammonia is provided for by both Istanbul agreements, apparently a decision was made – there is no ammonia pipeline, there are no problems," she said.

Last July, Turkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

The Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline was used for ammonia (a wide-use fertilizer) supplies from the Russian city of Tolyatti to Ukraine's port of Odessa where it was loaded to vessels for further deliveries across the world.

Last year, Nord Stream gas pipelines were blasted in the Baltic Sea, cutting off gas supplies from Russia to Germany.

So after close to a week into the Ukrainian offensive, an initial picture emerges:

- As before in this war, the side on the offensive keeps rather quiet until they can report significant successes, to the point of denying there's even an offensive. With Ukrainian advances being stated in hundreds of meters, they try to portray this as local business as usual. That their new Western-equipped assault brigades specifically built up for this are involved is however clear from images of vehicles used; besides the French AMX-10RC wheeled armor mentioned earlier, also American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and Leopard 2 main battle tanks both in the older A4 variant supplied by several NATO countries, and the newer A6 delivered by Germany in particular. They have however deployed at best a third of those brigades yet.

- The defending side is much more talkative and frequently highlighting individual successful actions of repelling the enemy. Unusual for the Russians, who have only stated an official number of their overall casualties once before last September, they even published detailed counts of their and Ukrainian losses for yesterday - though obviously, as for any numbers coming from either side in any war, a modificator should be applied to them (a factor of three for understating friendly and overstating enemy losses is always a good rule of thumb).

- The Ukrainians seem to attack at two different points in the south, aimed at Melitopol and Mariupol respectively, with the obvious aim of cutting Russia's land bridge to occupied Crimea and isolate troops there; as well as at Donetsk City and Bakhmut in the east. It is not yet clear whether one of these axes will become the main effort. They started off by reconnaissance in force and probing actions of mechanized infantry companies supported by at best platoons of armor, likely to establish Russian defensive positions and weaknesses. At one point in the south, the extent amounted to them taking two villages, then getting pushed out of them again.

- By yesterday, they tried a serious attack on the Melitopol axis at night, relying on superior Western night vision capabilities and foregoing actively emitting air defense systems to achieve the moment of surprise by stealth. As elsewhere, they suffered heavy losses, which is to be expected against a well-entrenched enemy (see Normandy); they were particularly hampered by Russian minefields, forcing them to advance through narrow cleared lanes. Over the day, similar happened, and they appear to have lost several Leopards and Bradleys to mines, artillery and anti-tank missiles, which were either destroyed or immobilized and abandoned in no-man's land between the lines.

- The Russians seem actually pleasantly surprised by the effectiveness of their tactical aviation in defeating the night attack; allegedly two pairs of Ka-52 helicopter gunship working in conjunction with SOF spotters in no-man's land were instrumental. They are stressing their lines have held overall, though acknowledge that their situation is difficult in some spots.

- I expect this sort of slugging match to continue for another two to four weeks. By then we'll either see a Ukrainian breakthrough, or their offensive will spend itself. Their problem is that both sides know that cutting through Russian-occupied territory to the Sea of Azov is of prime strategic importance, and the Russians have prepared for this with multiple deep defensive lines in the south. Whether they can sufficiently man all those while having to mind a huge frontline along which the Ukrainians can concentrate, now including the international Russian-Ukrainian border in the north, is a question that would arise only after an initial break.

- At any rate I maintain that this is probably the last major offensive of this war, which will set the stage either for a negotiated settlement by 2025 the latest, or else it turning into another frozen conflict in the post-Soviet area.

^^^^^^^^
Thanks for that report, BansheeOne. Very informative, and I appreciate your analysis.