bfried68 @bfried68@fedibird.com

A Russian soldier from Tver, fighting in an assault brigade near Avdiivka, complains. He says they have been fighting for over a year without a single leave of absence. He also states that only 12 of his company are left.

"Men have children... Wives... But the phrase from the brigade commander 'you will all die and it will be good' does not motivate heroism.. We fight without a motive. Thank you for your attention... It's a farce...," he writes.

As a reminder, news from May 2023:

At least four Palestinians killed during the latest round of fighting in the #Gaza Strip, including children, died as a result of explosions caused by failed rocket (…) of the 507 rockets launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad at Israel as of Thursday morning, around 110 fell short in the Gaza Strip.

That’s around 21% failure ratio, when rockets fired at #Israel explode on Hamas own territory. A rhetorical question, do you think #Hamas cares about that? Did any of the “friends of #Palestine” care?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/military-believes-failed-islamic-jihad-rockets-killed-four-civilians-in-gaza/

Upon arrival in #Israel, Rishi #Sunak told reporters at Tel Aviv airport that the #Hamas attacks on 7 October were an "unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism", and he reiterated that the UK stands with Israel.

"I'm very much looking forward to my meetings later with the prime minister and president and I very much hope they'll be productive meetings," Sunak said.

At this point I really don’t think that #Israel bombed that hospital in #Gaza, because every time they have done horrible things in Gaza they have never denied doing it. They either justify it or they say nothing.

If they had destroyed the hospital they would have said “we had to, there were #Hamas terrorists in the hospital” or they wouldn’t have said anything, not “we didn’t do this bad thing.” If they’d done it they wouldn’t have acknowledged that it was a bad thing.

⚡️🇺🇦Over 225,000 ha of Ukrainian farmland inspected for mines since year-start - Economy Ministry (more) https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3775427-over-225000-ha-of-ukrainian-farmland-inspected-for-mines-since-yearstart-economy-ministry.html #Ukraine #Press #News #russia #russiaUkraineWar #9yrInvasionofUkraine #BoycottMusk
#NoEUPrezForHungary
#NoUSRepublicans2024

Hearing #China call out #Israel for going too far in collectively punishing Palestinians for the crimes of #Hamas is very hypocritical.

They've done the exact same in #Xinjiang & #Tibet, punishing the entire population for the crimes of a few, or, increasingly, the crime of existing.

Russian losses, 24 Feb 2022 to 14 Oct 2023:

~286,890 killed

4,940 tanks
9,337 armoured personnel vehicles
6,833 artillery systems
811 multiple-launch rocket systems
547 air defence systems
317 aircraft
316 helicopters
5,265 operational-tactical UAVs
1,531 cruise missiles
20 ships/boats
1 submarine
9,225 vehicles/fuel trucks
971 special equipment

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3f1xGy-DKLw&si=dL6sjgbmlHCDf6Ms
‼️🇺🇦What’s Happening In Bakhmut? AFU Southern Bakhmut Offensive continues to liberate land (Reporting From Ukraine Media VIDEO) #Ukraine #Press #News #russia #russiaUkraineWar #9yrInvasionofUkraine #BoycottMusk
#NoEUPrezForHungary
#NoUSRepublicans2024

Ukrainian Army is 15 KM from Tokmak, the 'Land Corridor' to Crimea must Be Cut: https://benborges.xyz/2023/10/13/ukrainian-army-is.html

⚡️‼️Events in Israel will not affect NATO's support for Ukraine – Stoltenberg (more) https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/10/13/7424066/ #Ukraine #Mastodon #NATO #Press #News #russia #russiaUkraineWar #9yrInvasionofUkraine #BoycottMusk
#NoEUPrezForHungary
#NoUSRepublicans2024

Update from Ukraine | Ruzzia Lost The ground near Bakhmut and many Tanks in Andriivka. Ukraine wins: https://benborges.xyz/2023/10/13/update-from-ukraine.html

In the coming months, The Czech Republic and Denmark will supply Ukraine with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, hand guns and ammunition of both new production and production and from the warehouses of Czech private companies at the expense of the Danish government. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/czech-republic-denmark-supply-tanks-fighting-vehicles-ukraine-czech-defence-2023-10-12/

S7 Airlines is set to reduce its autumn-winter flight schedule by 10-15% compared to the previous year due to difficulties in servicing its Airbus A320/A321neo aircraft. The airline is facing challenges with American Pratt & Whitney (P&W) engines on these planes, as repair services for these engines are not available in Russia or Iran.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/s7-airlines/s7-airlines-from-russia-to-reduce-winter-schedules-due-to-lack-of-pw-engine-spare-parts/

#Ukraine #Russia #Iran

Lloyd Austin has assured Volodymyr Zelenskyy of a steady and continuous supply of weapons to Ukraine: https://benborges.xyz/2023/10/12/lloyd-austin-has.html

This is very good news for journalists, if they'll only wake up and see it: Leaving the deadbird site had a negligible impact on referral traffic. https://niemanreports.org/articles/npr-twitter-musk/

Typically for articles talking about journalism and Twitter, this one fails even to mention Mastodon/fediverse -- and of course the site doesn't appear to have a Mastodon account. Sigh.

Biden Administration Announces Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine

Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs.

The capabilities in this package, valued at up to $200 million.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3553644/biden-administration-announces-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/

#Ukraine #Russia #US

🇺🇸🇺🇦Ukraine’s state budget receives $1.15 B grant from US. Thank you USA, Slava Ukraine!
(More) https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3772770-ukraines-state-budget-receives-115-b-grant-from-us.html #Ukraine #USA #Press #News #russia #russiaUkraineWar #9yrInvasionofUkraine #BoycottMusk #EndMusk
#NoEUPrezForHungary
#NoUSRepublicans2024
#RussiaHamasAreFriends

Shadow unit found a TOS-1A heavy flamethrower system which tried to hide in a hangar. Unfortunately for the Russians it was already spotted. Not long after the hangar was bombed. The infantry fled, we don't know if the TOS-1A was damaged or destroyed.

The office of the President of Ukraine appealed to the Israeli side with a request to give consent to the official visit of President Zelenskyi. Officials said the talks on the issue are preliminary and there is still no date for a visit. https://www.axios.com/2023/10/11/zelensky-israel-hamas-war-gaza-visit-netanyahu