The Brink of War?

[dab69]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-a...070611895.html

Russian army has lost 191 volley fire systems and 161 helicopters - General Staff

Since the beginning of the full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, the army of the Russian Federation has lost 26,650 soldiers, 300 of them in the last 24 hours alone.

Source: data of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Details: The total combat losses of the Russian occupying forces from 24.02 to 12.05 were approximately: (with figures in brackets indicating fresh losses)

personnel - about 26650 (+300)

tanks - 1195 (+8) units

armoured combat vehicles - 2873 (+17) units

artillery systems - 534 (+6) units

MLRS - 191 (+6) units

Anti-aircraft warfare - 87 (+0) units

aircraft - 199 (+0) units

helicopters - 161 (+1) units

UAV operational and tactical level - 398 (+8,

cruise missiles - 94 (+0)

ships / boats - 13 (+1) units

automotive equipment and tank trucks - 2019 (+22) units

special equipment - 41 (+0).

It is noted that the enemy’s greatest losses in the last 24 hours have been on the Kurakhiv front.

This data is being constantly updated.

[dab69]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fleeing-r...100211734.html

Fleeing Russian soldiers left behind key military documents that indicated Putin had plans to seize all of Ukraine, officials said



A Ukrainian firefighter walking in rubble in the northeastern city of Trostyanets, Ukraine, on March 29.Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian troops found Russian military documents in Sumy Oblast, officials said on Telegram.

The abandoned military documents suggested that Putin had plans to seize all of Ukraine.

Russian troops retreated from Kyiv in early April and have since focused on taking eastern Ukraine.

Fleeing Russian soldiers left behind key military documents that indicated Russian President Vladimir Putin had plans to seize all of Ukraine, the director of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation said in a Telegram statement on Wednesday.

Ukrainian forces discovered the documents while searching through the northeastern town of Trostyanets in Sumy Oblast, the statement said.

Trostyanets, located about 230 miles from the capital, Kyiv, was liberated by Ukrainian troops in late March after a monthlong Russian occupation, The New York Times reported.

Investigators found "important documents of soldiers of the Russian Federation's Armed Forces that give a clear understanding that Russia was preparing to seize all the territory of Ukraine," Oleksiy Sukhachev, the director of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation, said in the statement.

"All this information will be studied," the statement continued.

Insider has not seen the documents and has not been able to independently verify the claims.

Sukhachev said Ukrainian officials had inspected over 2,000 hectares of the destroyed town since its liberation.

Aside from the documents, soldiers also found that more than 300 residential buildings had been permanently damaged, Sukhachev said. A number of unexploded shells and bombs had also been found, he added.

The Russian military papers appeared to confirm earlier assessments by Western officials that Putin had plans to swiftly take all of Ukraine, but failed to do so.

Russian troops — who expected to seize Kyiv within days — retreated from the capital in early April and refocused their offensive in Ukraine's eastern region.

Read the original article on Business Insider

[Moses]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-a...070611895.html

Russian army has lost 191 volley fire systems and 161 helicopters - General Staff

Since the beginning of the full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, the army of the Russian Federation has lost 26,650 soldiers, 300 of them in the last 24 hours alone.

Source: data of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Details: The total combat losses of the Russian occupying forces from 24.02 to 12.05 were approximately: (with figures in brackets indicating fresh losses)

personnel - about 26650 (+300)

'''

special equipment - 41 (+0).

It is noted that the enemy’s greatest losses in the last 24 hours have been on the Kurakhiv front.

This data is being constantly updated.

It is as precise, as is precise "Kurakhiv front" - try to find this in Google... may be on Mars?

[Moses]

Euro today fell lower than 66 rubles at MOEX. It is lowest rate since 2017. US dollar now around 63.

Russia’s oil revenues are up 50% this year even as trade restrictions following the invasion of Ukraine spurred many refiners to shun its supplies, the International Energy Agency said.

Moscow earned roughly $20 billion each month in 2022 from combined sales of crude and products amounting to about 8 million barrels a day, the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly market report.

Russian shipments have continued to flow even as the European Union edges towards an import ban, and international oil majors such as Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE pledge to cease purchases. Asia has remained a keen customer, with China and India picking up cargoes no longer wanted in Europe.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ycott-iea-says

[dab69]

Such concern about money.
Little thought to murderous actions of Putin.

What to expect from evil people...

[Dragonman]

=== In other words, no-one is buying rubles. ===

Yes-yes. No one buys. Exactly that why today Italian PM Drahi told today "to buy gas for rubles doesn't break sanctions". Exactly that why demands of rubles pushes rubles stronger. And off-shore demands are even stronger than on-shore. See Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...et-split-grows

Your quote are one month old, but situation changing every day. First it was "Nobody will buy gas, oil and so on", then was situation "Nobody will buy oil" - when EU realized what it can't survive without Russian gas. Late there was situation "Nobody will buy gas for rubles"...

Wait for 2-3 months. You will hear at first "nobody will buy Russian wheat". then it will be changed to "Nobody will buy Russian wheat for rubles".... and then again ruble will became stronger, because Russia is responsible for 25% of World wheat export, where prices for wheat are already 60% higher than in 2021...

I told in December yet, when here were a lot of gentleman with high razed chins and too much proud about own economy: nobody can exclude Russia from global economy - Russia is world global supplier on many critical markets, that why sanctions are supported only by 19% of World nations.

The full title of the Bloomberg report (which you didn't give) in your link is "Traders Prepare to Ditch Moscow Ruble Rate as Market Split Grows." The opening paragraphs read "Currency traders are preparing to jettison Russia’s local exchange rate for the ruble on some transactions, a sign of the growing split between the country’s domestic currency market and its international counterpart since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

The Trade Association for the Emerging Markets is recommending that, starting on June 6, traders use pricing data from WM/Refinitiv as a primary settlement rate option for some derivative contracts, according to an April 20 statement. That could come as a relief to traders who had questioned the reliability of the ruble’s foreign-exchange rate since Russia was slapped with wide-reaching sanctions and imposed capital controls after the invasion."

With regard to selling "Russian" wheat, I understand most of that is wheat looted from Ukraine - "Russians steal vast amounts of Ukrainian grain and equipment, threatening this year's harvest" (https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/05/e...ntl/index.html). Dealing in stolen goods is a criminal offense in most countries, through probably not in Russia nowadays, given the reports of widespread looting by Russian troops.

If you read reports on PM Drahi's statement, it refers to oil companies opening ruble accounts with Russian Gazprombank, which will see their euro payment converted into rubles in line with Russia’s scheme to bypass sanctions. As I detailed in an earlier posting, Russia cannot access the euros because of sanctions. Moreover, as EU President Ursula von der Leyen noted, "To pay in rubles — if this is not foreseen in the contract — is a breach of our sanctions. Companies with such contracts should not accede to the Russian demands." The oil companies pay in euros, Gazprombank converts the euros into rubles (https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-N...ssian-Gas.html).

With regard to your final comment on only 19% of the world's nations, put that in perspective. In fact, The countries that have sanctioned Russia over Ukraine represent only 16% of the world’s population. Nearly one-third of the world’s population lives in a country where their government’s position is “neutral” according to the Economist classification, and led by India (which is heavily reliant on Russia for energy and arms). PR China leans toward Russia (although it has made an effort to retain some distance from it. Truly Kremlin-aligned countries are an exclusive club (such as North Korea, Syria, and Cuba, with just 3.9% of the world’s population and 2.6% of its GDP).

On the other hand, although the global population condemning Russia’s actions are in the minority, they represent the vast majority of the world’s economy. Seventy percent of global GDP belongs to countries supporting the West’s position, with 61% of the world’s GDP and 16% of its population belonging to countries actively condemning Russia. (https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-po...ctioned-russia, May 10, 2022). Neutrality, by definition, does not imply support.

Also, you need to factor into sanctions on Russia new legislation in the west such as the UK's "Economic Crime Act," which became law in March 2022. The legislation:
1. creates a register of overseas ownership of UK land and property - with punishments for withholding details; 2. overhauls Unexplained Wealth Orders, and 3) makes it easier to prosecute anyone involved in sanctions-busting. All those Russian oligarchs with properties, etc., in the UK (and their children, who seem to prefer living outside Russia for some reason) are potential persons of interest under the Act. The Economic Crime Act targets people who manage properties within complicated offshore arrangements, even if they're not the actual beneficiary. Of course, Putin is one of the persons on interest.

[Dragonman]

Euro today fell lower than 66 rubles at MOEX. It is lowest rate since 2017. US dollar now around 63.

I presume you are watching the MOEX so carefully because you are buying Euros and US dollars? Oh, sorry, I forgot you can't, as the " Central Bank of the Russian Federation banned the sale of dollars and euros to individuals through bank cash desks and “exchangers” in April. And, as the US and the EU announced a complete cessation of supplies of cash dollars and euros to the country, those euros and dollars that are there now have rarity value (https://hindustannewshub.com/russia-...-moscow-times/).

[Dodger]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-a...070611895.html

Russian army has lost 191 volley fire systems and 161 helicopters - General Staff

Since the beginning of the full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, the army of the Russian Federation has lost 26,650 soldiers, 300 of them in the last 24 hours alone.

It would be helpful to see the losses on the Ukraine side for comparison purposes.

[Dodger]

President Sauli Niinistö, who leads Finland's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of the Finnish Defense Forces announced yesterday that a final decision has been made - and Finland would be applying to NATO immediately. This is supposed to be administered by this weekend - and, as expected, Sweden will be following suit.

Putin has already unleashed threats to Finland (more woof tickets) which have fallen on deaf ears. Both Finland and Sweden have made their points clear that the reason for joining the Alliance is due to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It doesn't get much clearer than that!

NATO's defense has just got significantly stronger, and in President Niinisto's words..." Moscow only have themselves to blame."

I've been watching this development very closely because I really believe this is a pivotal moment in the war - and see it as "coup de grace" for Putin's strategy in the long-term.

Putin is watching 3 things happen simultaneously: 1) NATO is becoming larger and stronger, 2) His Military is taking heavy losses and can't create any "wins", and 3) His decisions have resulted in Russia's economy being thrown into a death-spiral. Regardless of what his ulterior motives are for continuing the war, or the strategy for supporting his motive(s), the fact remains that these 3 events are REAL and cannot be erased with propaganda, nor is there a light at the end of Putin's tunnel other than a very dark off-ramp leading to capitulation.

The bad news, the way this thing seems to be unfolding, is that Putin will probably keep his troops in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine until hell freezes over rather than capitulate and lose face. I imagine he see's the illegal annexing of the Donbas region as a basis for at least saying he "won" something.

Who do you think hates him more right now - the Ukrainian people, or his oligarchs?

[Dragonman]

Euro today fell lower than 66 rubles at MOEX. It is lowest rate since 2017. US dollar now around 63

Moses, why not quote the MOEX Russia Index (https://www.google.com/finance/quote...xAY&window=MAX) directly, rather than the Forex figures? As I type this, it is at 2,297.89, down from a peak of 4,2168.63 on October 22, 2021, and way below the 3,637.38 of May 14, 2021.