Fernando

Some stuff here today.  Interesting piece about RU payola to folks in EU to spread propaganda.  I've seen reports (let's call this rumor for now) that Mike Johnson is getting campaign funds from a lobbying group funded by an RU oligarch --  I don't know this will turn out to be true, we'll see.  When we saw Tucker C, Sen. Rand Paul, et al, spewing RU talking points verbatum (sp?), it does make one wonder.  And some RU stuff blowing up -- a lot of RU stuff.  I am shocked at how I can now laugh at men being killed.  Even completely untouched by this war I am becoming jaded.  I am glad these RU soldiers won't be able to cause more murder and mayhem, but I am still surprised at how callous I have become.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/3/31/2232580/-Russian-stuff-blowing-up-Russia-s-biggest-armored-assault-of-the-war-ends-in-bavovna?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
On another subject, I lit into SFHand in an earlier post.  Probably too much.  Working 60 hr week (literally) and I take a couple minutes to pop in to get some UKR news and I have to wade thru that nonsense.  Kinda made me testy.  

Read Dmitri every day!

Difficult to counter. 

Russians abandoned T-90M, looking not badly damaged. The tank was cooked off with grenade-in-hatch
 

Have you read the thread from day 1? The amount of open source information here - from all imaginable perspectives - is enormous. Historians will be able to make much more sense of this war than any in history. Would that we had this sort of information for the ancient world! Or the Battle of Midway!

Dupe - due to mobile phone.

Darwin premium candidate.
Russian soldier avoided drone attack after long cat-and-mouse game, when it hit the ground and didn't explode, but then decided to blow it up by throwing of own rifle on it and then RPG, as result the drone exploded and killed or heavy injured him %) 
 

Speaking of pickup trucks. 🙂
 
One less RU gun.
AFU taking out some RU drones, looks like Shaheds.
 
 
 
 

Yup that was probably the cause, naturally remembering there is also strong Iran lead in this as well. Worth to add that ideologically Hamas partly inherited narrations from PLO about Palestinian nation, which are simply incongruent with global jihad that is to smash all nations altogether and turn Palestine into just one province of their dreamed Califate. When IS was at peak of their strength, there were fierce discussion (almost like a debate in Western sense) between  certified "scholars" on their official Dabiq newslatter if Hamas is in fact cool or traitors of the Cause.* Something very similar was already happening then with Muslims from Central Asia- they were afraid that pure global jihad will turn into ethnic revenge in case of Tajik, Usbeks and other folks from region. It was always a big problem for Islamic State to control its cells/local influence so they didn't slide into proper resistance movements with jihadi spice on top.
*Btw. this journal was hillarious example of early medieval mind in post-modern form, very well edited and available online in perfect English (and several other languages) barely several years ago, it should still be there somewhere if anyone want to check. Imagine The Sun or Life of Stars or similar journal but in jihadi form and without naked woman on last page. They even had something resembling  "hot warrior of the month" column with advices how to keep one's hair halal. That plus acute lack of any female in this magaize gave it (without offending anybody) actually strong gay vibes altogether. But hey, it's different world.
 
Meanwhile, official muscovite repressions are rather limited and tailored to family of assailants like in criminal cases:
https://www.reuters.com/world/tajikistan-detains-9-people-over-russian-concert-hall-attack-source-2024-03-29/
 
IS kind-of-official IS Central spokesman Ansari yesterday gave a speech, in which he trolled Russia ("Northern Crusaders") pretty heavily. They clearly push narrative ropes now with Kremlin, fighting to be seen as real perpetrators.

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia-doubled-imports-of-an-explosives-ingredientwith-western-help-fd8d18bc
 
 

One more video how it falling into the water. Intersting, this is first Su-27, lost by Russia in this war. More likely this Flanker belonged to 38th Fighter aviation regiment of 27th mixed aviation division, airbase Belbek. Despite more modern Su-30 and Su-35 are on armament, Russia still use Su-27 in quantity 119 jets. Crimean regiment has Su-27P (interceptor), Su-27SM and Su-27UB (combat trainer). These aircrafts mostly maintained CAP over Crimea
 

<areas of COIN involved cerebral cortex begin to spin up, blinking lights, whirring and puffs of dust ensue>
It's pretty clear that ISIS-K wants to recruit more members of ISIS-K in Russia at this stage of the game by committing acts of terrorism that inflame an already quite hostile Russian cultural reaction to Muslims from the Southern fringe of the imperium which then alienates and radicalizes yet more potential recruits. To this end, an attack like that at Crocus also provides a clear signal that Moscow isn't just nasty...but weak, preoccupied completely by the losing war in Ukraine and not prepared to handle what ISIS-K can dish out. 
Russia did actually lean into pretty much what ISIS-K could have hoped for with televised tortures, ear lopping and the like...which is precisely the worst way to equalize both sides in the minds of fence sitters and videos of Russians assaulting random Tajiks are all over the Stans as we speak. What meh there was involved the messaging from the top...which underlined the how out of of touch the Kremlin is. 
All in all, ISIS-K has to feel pretty good about this round. 
 

Fingers crossed.

That theory about men in blue sweaters (and shirts) might not be as crazy as it looks at first glance 😂

That theory about men in blue sweaters (and shirts) might not be as crazy as it looks at first glance 😂

Very likely something like this will emerge one day. And this will be the end of ISIS as true edgy islamists.
They don't know in what dump they just stepped in. What is their ideology of silly millenaristic sect  compared to Black Hole of Russian reality ?
Blue jumper or winter jacket they say...

 

The downsides to a political regime held together by fear, duct tape and conspiracy theories...

Now that Putin has admitted that ISIS did it, and we axiomatically know that he lies when he speaks. That means, that we now know that it has been an inside job! No more proof needed!
Just kidding. Of course, it was Ukraine. Obviously, neo-Nazis work together with Islamists. The world is explained so easily.

Cargo aviation increased activity on Rzeszow airfield. For last day 5 cargo planes arrived. This may be due to Pentagon agreed to allocate 4 billions USD of own reserves for ammunition for Ukriane, so because of this such increased activity. Russian media claimed about 300 tons of military cargo has delivered to Rzeszow in last two days.
  

Thermal power plant was struck by UKR UAVs in Novocherkassk city, Rostov oblast this night. As result of damagiing and fire on transformers site the plant was forced to stop two power units
City aithorities claimed there are no UAV attack, but locals issued a videom where a sound of flying UAV is heard and then distant impact
  
 

New sattelite image of Russian large landing shio (claimed it's "Yamal"). GUR today made a statment this ship was under repair on Sevastopol ship-repairing factory and was struck by missile - it penetrated the deck and hull, causing a roll to starboard. On this image we apparently can see this roll and tugs, moving the ship to the dock to avoid her sinking. 
GUR also claimed one of missiles damaged 13th ship-repairig factory in Sevastopol
 

Damn! What a huge BOOMs I heard! At least three. Russians launched something fast from Crimea and this something tried to hit center of the city and probably Kyiv hydro energy plant north from the city. My wife has seen SAM launches. This couldn't be Iskander -  too far for Crimea, either N.Korean sh...t or Onix-M (800 km). Reportedly all missiles were intercepted, debrises of onе of them fell down in central part of Kyiv.