Holien

For those interested in listening in on two world leaders talk about Ukraine before the war. More to follow....
 
 

Well, I can't tell whether those are part of infrastructure that's wholly internal to russia, or whether they are part of international pipelines, but in this strange war russian natural gas still flows through pipelines over Ukraine to countries like Hungary and Austria, even today.
Agreement continues until end of this year, at least: https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/91649
It probably isn't in the best interests of Ukraine to rock that particular boat and cause worsening relations with EU members, even if they are led by characters like the toad orban (although to be fair, toads have a spine, and a heart) or Slovakia's fu.., I mean, fico. 

For those interested in listening in on two world leaders talk about Ukraine before the war. More to follow....
 
 

For those interested in listening in on two world leaders talk about Ukraine before the war. More to follow....
 
 

For those interested in listening in on two world leaders talk about Ukraine before the war. More to follow....
 
 

For those interested in listening in on two world leaders talk about Ukraine before the war. More to follow....
 
 

For those interested in listening in on two world leaders talk about Ukraine before the war. More to follow....
 
 

UKR drones, attacked Ryazan' oil refinery were UKR developed "Lyutyi" ("Fury") drones (the second from above in right column). They very similar to Chineese Mugin-5, also used by Ukriane in strikes. By rumors this drone can fly on 1000 km and carry up to 75 kg of warhead. But real data unknown. 
Reportedly during the strike on Ryazan refinery were taken out two from four fractioning columns AVT-4 and AT-6, different by year outpit. Because of this Ryazan refinery lost 70 % of own output capabilities. Most of production of this refinery have been sending to Moscow oblast. Intersting that today was claimed about death of top-manager of "Lukoil" company Vitaliy Robertus - the fourth, since the war began. There are rumors he was kileld diring drone strike, but no confirmation yet 

Near Novopavlivka, Dnipropetrovsk oblast.
Helicopters of 12th Army aviation brigade. Two pilots killed.

There are rumors, sharply increased successes of Russian strikes in last two weeks it's not because their rised recon&strike capabilities, but because of possible information leakage from higher HQ level - all episodes were in Donetsk oblast or close  

This article may explain an increase in Russian ISR:
Russian Shahed-136 With Camera, Cellular Modem Could Be A Big Problem For Ukraine (twz.com)
Co-pilot summary
 

I get the need to vent and all, but you are kinda yelling at the church choir here.  Steve either banned or we chased off the right wing twits (and I mean MAGA-types, not honest Republicans who's biggest crime is simply losing control of their party).
To paraphrase Kofman, Ukraine will never run out of ammunition, they can simply chose to "fire less" (The_Capt rolls his eyes).
This war is in a odd place right now.  Ukraine is under strain and suffering but also appear to have upped their strategic strike game significantly.  Russia, is also suffering but is showing improvements in some disturbing areas, like ISR.  No one has solved for the operational stalemate that has evolved.  Hard to really say what is going to happen but I am getting a strange sense that something is going to give one way or the other soon.

I don't think describing an actual reality is 'getting too domestic'. Trump and his acolytes have made it clear that should he win, Ukraine...and indeed Taiwan...is on it's own and the pressure he is putting on Congress to stymie aid is proof of it.
If you want Ukraine to win, get out there and help make it happen. 
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Senate-passed Ukraine aid package has been put up for a discharge petition today. If it reaches 216 signatures, it can be brought to a vote even against the Speaker's opposition. == As of 12 March == Total signatures: 169 (out of 216 needed) Needed signatures remaining: 47 Democrat signatures: 169 (with 44 remaining). No Republicans have signed yet. We assess: Republican Reps are waiting to see how many Democrats sign before they make a decision. Current top priority: CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE! -- If they haven't signed yet - urge them to sign the discharge petition (H.Res. 1016) to bring Ukraine aid (bill H.R. 815) to a vote. -- If they've already signed on - ask them to reach out to their colleagues to encourage them to sign. You can check your Rep's status at: http://bit.ly/discharge815 Now that the working day is over, we can start intensively circulating the shortlist of Democrats who have not yet signed the discharge petition. This graphic is based on the data at http://bit.ly/discharge815. Both that list and this graphic are by @community4Ukraine. #call4ukraine Reposts welcome - no credit required. Community for Ukraine

Truly America is so stupid. We can't provide a tiny portion of our gdp to a cause most Americans are fine with, to which no American lives are at risk, to degrade the ability of a enemy, and strengthen our own standing in the world....and we are willingly throwing it away. Holy ****, why would any nation ally with us vs China.
We are starving our ally of life for literally no ****ing reason. No reason except as a favor to a certain someone. And no none of the flimsy excuses pass, most Americans, most senators, representatives support Ukraine or at least espouse sentiments to such.

The thing to understand right now is that the Speaker already has no authority. His sole leverage is that nobody wants to go through another debac-tacular leadership election again. And with Buck's retirement and NY23 coming up, the Republican margin will be down to 1 vote for a while. It will then go back up to...2. So, there is little Johnson can do to punish recalcitrant members and plenty they can do to ruin his day, every day.  
The inescapable fact the derives from the above is that there is no plan or agreement. Johnson is a cipher...and Trump's cipher at that...in the House. He has no party loyalty to rely on (as Jefferies does) and his team is made up of pols who have more experience, cliques that support them, etc (i.e. Scalise, Jordan). What plan there is, is simply to stymie aid as long as possible because that's what Trump wants. Thus, the discharge petition.
To the vote, that the discharge petition is even happening tells you it has legs and in this case there are actually two (one from a Democrat and one from a Republican) but it is a hard road to travel and it takes time. How would the vote go? You probably lose about 10 to 15 Democrats but you also probably gain 70 to 100 Republicans. If the vote were a secret ballot, you probably would get 150 plus. Ukraine aid is that rare thing...it is truly popular and bipartisan. If they get the discharge to the finish line, it almost certainly passes...Johnson be damned. 

Hmmm unless they have a way to get it past the dogs in the manger they could promise anything and it ain't going?
🤔

Current situation in Belgorod and Kursk oblasts:
Russian border chekpoint Nekhoteyevka (Belgorod oblast), abandoned by Russian border guards.  Damaged and abandoned free-Russia tank under fire (somebody claimed this is a video of year-ago raid, but maybe later we will have more information)
LFR claims they still hold Tyotkino border settlment in Kursk oblast

Some locals in Belgorod oblast shared infromation Su-27 was allegedly shot down near Belgorod and fell down into forest (this is not IL-76 incident, because Ivanovo, where this plane crashed is in 760 km NE from Belgorod). Single video of probably crash site is a large smoke over the forest, but still no confirmation about jet falling
 

Crash site of IL-76, which fell down near Ivanovo. Some Russian TGs claimed that unknown passengers, who were onboard, were crewmen of A-50. Ivanovo-Severnyi airfield is a base of 610th Center of combat usage and flight personnel retrain, having in own composition IL-76 and A-50 planes, some of which are strored. If this is true, IL-76 crash can be a diveriosion to eliminate A-50 pilots and operators, which probably flew to bring into exploitation A-50, repaired from the storage to substitute previous losses
Reportedly (but not verified) in result of drone strikes on Beriyev aviation plant in Taganrog two A-50 (one of them - that which suffered from small drone attack in Belarus), staying under repar in hangar got additional damages and have taken out for unknown time.

This day was interesting not because of free-Russia troops crossed Russian border, but also huge simultainous drone attack on nine Russian oblasts. Obviously these were chains of one operation on eve of "Putin elections".
Most significant were strikes on oil storage in Oryol - at least one fuel tank was set on fire...
... And attack on "Lukoil" company oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhniy Novgorod oblast in 800 km NE from closest point of UKR border. The drone precisely hit and set on fire the fractioning column, maintaning 53% of refinery output. This refinery also supplies about 30 % of gasoline in Moscow oblast.
 
UKR drones and MLRS again were launched on Belgorod
Reporteldy a drone with small warhead hit city administration building (2 employees were lightly wounded)