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*** Official Russia vs. Ukraine Discussion - Invasion has begun *** (4 Viewers)


A Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) drone hit a multifunctional vessel of the Russian Black Sea Fleet off Novorossiysk on Sept. 10, inflicting costly damage, the agency reported.

The Project MPSV07 ship was tracked and hit while carrying out reconnaissance and patrolling Novorossiysk Bay near Russia's Krasnodar Krai, where the Black Sea Fleet is currently based, according to HUR.

The agency released black-and-white footage of a domestically produced aerial drone hitting the ship's bridge.

"As a result of the strike, the Russian vessel's electronic intelligence systems were destroyed, and the ship was disabled and sent for costly repairs," HUR said in its Sept. 11 statement.
 

Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Drones have targeted multiple regions in Russia, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, in a large-scale overnight attack, Russian officials and media outlets reported on Sept. 12.

The attack reportedly caused fires on a vessel in the Primorsk Port and at a Lukoil facility in Smolensk. Residents of Leningrad Oblast said the attack was one of the most massive strikes on the region since the start of the full-scale war.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these reports at the time of publication.

Residents of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast continue to report explosions, according to the Russian opposition news channel Astra.

Smolensk residents reported explosions in the city. In footage posted to social media, eyewitnesses claimed that the drones targeted a nearby Lukoil facility. Video shows smoke and flames rising from a large fire at an undisclosed site.
Update

Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) drones struck Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil-loading port on the Baltic Sea, overnight on Sept. 12, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.

Primorsk in Leningrad Oblast serves as a key hub for Russia's "shadow fleet" of aging tankers used to avoid sanctions, the source said. Roughly 60 million tons of oil pass through the port every year, bringing Russia roughly $15 billion, the source added.

After the Ukrainian drone strike, fires broke out at one of the vessels and a pumping station, forcing the suspension of oil shipments, according to the source. This could allegedly cost Russia up to $41 million a day.

SBU drones also successfully struck three oil pumping stations that are part of a pipeline system funneling crude to the Ust-Luga port terminal in Leningrad Oblast, the source claimed.


 
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@Chadstroma I hope everything you predicted comes thru….sooner than later!
Hoping as well. The ball seems to be moving. Ukraine is targeting their energy infrastructure and it absolutely being effective. There are regions bone dry of gas right now and that has a lot of implications to the economy as well as general populace unrest.

It seems the US is looking to add pressure on the export of energy products which is the only thing propping up the Russian economy. How effective that is will be a major driving force into what happens with Russia economically.

As I have said, the things that the they have done to keep the economy alive despite sanctions all have a price to them which needs to be paid at some point. We are seeing signs that it may not be possible to hold off paying those prices much longer in some areas such as the debt situation they have.

Russia will not be able to continue the fight if the economy collapses but then the question is what happens then? Would their lines collapse? Would there be regime change? Putin can not afford to be seen as weak or losing. He has to find a way to 'win'. So, unless it is so bad that someone who has enough power or a group of those decide enough it enough and end it... what does a win look like for Putin?
 

Japan slashes Russian oil price cap and rolls out new sanctions​


Japan has announced a new package of sanctions against Russia and its partners. Even companies from China, Türkiye, the UAE, the Seychelles, and the Marshall Islands have been affected by the restrictions, according to Trading View and Devdiscourse.

Japan has decided to lower the price cap on Russian crude oil to $47.6 per barrel from the previous $60. This decision was made to increase pressure on Moscow for continuing its invasion of Ukraine.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said that the new price threshold for Russian crude oil will apply to contracts signed after September 12 and contracts with unloading after October 17.

This move came after the European Union lowered the price cap on Russian crude oil to $47.6 in July as part of its 18th package of sanctions against Moscow.

Japan will also impose additional sanctions on asset freezes and export controls. In particular, it is known that Tokyo has imposed sanctions against 14 individuals, 48 companies and organizations from the Russian Federation, and three companies from the Seychelles and Marshall Islands.

There are also reports of export restrictions on two companies from Russia and nine companies from the UAE, Türkiye, and China.

New Zealand also tightened sanctions

New Zealand has also tightened sanctions against Russia by lowering the price cap on oil and expanding its blacklist.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced that the price cap on Russian crude oil will be lowered from $60 per barrel to $47.60, in line with measures taken by Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.

The Prime Minister said price caps were a deliberate step to reduce critical oil revenues that fuel Putin's illegal war in the form of aggression against Ukraine.

Sanctions against Russia

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU introduced 18 packages of sanctions, which have already led to a sharp reduction in imports from Russia.

In particular, as part of the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, the EU lowered the price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $47.6. The decision took effect on September 3.
 
NATO to beef up defence of Europe's eastern flank after Poland shoots down drones

NATO announced plans to beef up the defence of Europe's eastern flank on Friday, two days after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace in the first known action of its kind by a member of the Western alliance during Russia's war in Ukraine. Warsaw has portrayed the drone incursions as an attempt by Russia to test the capabilities of Poland and NATO to respond.
Earlier on Friday, it rejected Donald Trump's suggestion that the incursions could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the U.S. president from one of Washington's closest allies.
Allies, including Denmark, France, Britain and Germany have so far committed to the mission with others set to join, Rutte added.
 


Olena Goncharova
Ukraine's drones strike Russian oil refinery deep behind lines, 1,500 km from border
Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) carried out a drone strike on a major oil refinery in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan on SEpt. 12. (HUR)


Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) carried out a drone strike on a major oil refinery in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, sparking explosions and a large-scale fire, according to the intelligence sources.

The attack reportedly targeted the Bashneft-Novoyl refinery located in Ufa, the capital of the republic, roughly 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from Ukraine’s border. The facility is one of Russia’s key oil processing plants.

Sources said that after kamikaze drones struck the site, multiple powerful explosions erupted, followed by a massive blaze. Preliminary assessments suggest that critical infrastructure —including a vacuum column used for primary oil processing — sustained significant damage.

Local social media users reported hearing explosions and seeing drones over the city prior to the refinery catching fire. In response, regional authorities declared a drone threat alert. Ufa airport suspended operations, and mobile internet services across the city were temporarily cut off.

Over the past year, Russian officials and media have increasingly reported drone incursions and explosions far from the front line as Ukrainian forces have intensified attacks against Russia's energy infrastructure in an effort to put economic pressure on Moscow and undermine its ability to finance the war.

A few days earlier, Ukrainian forces struck two key Russian fuel infrastructure sites, the General Staff reported on Sept. 7. The confirmed targets included the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai and the "8-N" oil pipeline control station near the village of Naitopovichi in Bryansk Oblast.

Both facilities are involved in supplying fuel to Russian troops operating in Ukraine, according to the military.

The "8-N" control station, part of the "Steel Horse" pipeline complex with a pumping capacity of 10.5 million tons, is considered a strategic asset for Russian military logistics. Ukraine’s General Staff said the site sustained multiple hits, sparking a fire near the pumping station and tank farm.
 
“A deliberate expansion of the war by Russia”: Romania scrambles jets after Russian drone enters NATO airspace for the 2nd time this week

Romanian authorities issued an alert on Saturday for the northern area of Tulcea County after a Russian drone was detected in the country’s airspace, Romanian media outlet Digi24.ro reports. Citizens were warned of potential falling objects and urged to take protective measures. The incident follows a pattern of Russian drones violating NATO airspace in recent days. On 10 September, a wave of Russian drones entered Poland, causing alarm among NATO members.

The Romanian Ministry of National Defence said two F-16 fighter jets from Fetesti Air Base took off at 18:05 to monitor the airspace near the border with Ukraine, following Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian infrastructure along the nearby Danube river. The jets detected the drone near Chilia Veche, tracking it for roughly 50 minutes as it operated about 10 kilometers inside Romanian territory before disappearing from radar.
 
It shows how badly Russia is falling behind in air defense. Those systems are not easily produced and there is not much outside of Russia that they can draw on unless China were to risk further backlash by selling outright military equipment instead of dual use. The well is running dry.
Helps Turkey too if they want back in the F35 program.
 
UK summons Russian ambassador over violation of NATO airspace and sends jets to Poland

Britain on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador in London following Moscow’s “unprecedented violation” of NATO airspace, as the U.K. announced it would send fighter jets to help defend Polish airspace. The Foreign Office called the incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace in recent days “unacceptable” and summoned Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador. “Significant and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones last week, followed by a further incursion into Romanian airspace on Saturday, was utterly unacceptable,” the ministry said in a statement.
 
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul announced Sunday that he plans to retire after his 11th term, taking the opportunity to warn that in light of Russia's escalation of its invasion of Ukraine, "We got to be very careful not to be on the precipice of a World War III." McCaul made his statements to ABC News as he discussed last week's incursion into Polish airspace of Russian drones, which led to NATO scrambling jets to intercept the vehicles, the AP reports. Russia said the intrusion was an error, but Poland and other European countries contended it was intentional. President Trump said it "could have been a mistake."
McCaul, a former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a leading voice for supporting Ukraine, said he doesn't buy that, per CBS News. "With all deference to the president, I don't think that was a mistake," the Texas Republican said Sunday, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "testing the resolve of NATO." McCaul added that he thinks Trump is "waking up" to the fact that Putin "is not negotiating in good faith." Of Putin, McCaul said, "I think he's manipulating the president as a KGB officer would."
https://www.newser.com/story/375178/announcing-retirement-mccaul-issues-warning-on-world-war-iii.html
 

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Russia's oil pipeline monopoly Transneft (TRNF_p.MM), opens new tab has warned producers they may have to cut output following Ukraine's drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries, three industry sources said on Tuesday.
Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian energy assets since August in a bid to impede Moscow's war effort in Ukraine and reduce the Kremlin's revenues as attempts to secure an end to the conflict through peace talks have stalled.

Oil and gas revenues have accounted for between a third and half of Russia's total federal budget proceeds over the past decade, making the sector the single most important source of financing for the government.
Ukrainian drones have hit at least 10 refineries - cutting Russia's refining capacity by almost a fifth at one point - and damaged its leading Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, Ukrainian military officials and Russian industry sources said.

Russian authorities have not publicly commented on the extent of the damage or its impact on production and exports.
However, Transneft, which handles more than 80% of all the oil extracted in Russia, has in recent days restricted oil firms' ability to store oil in its pipeline system, two industry sources close to Russian oil firms told Reuters.
Transneft has also warned producers it may have to accept less oil if its infrastructure sustains further damage, the two sources said.

The attacks could force Russia, which accounts for 9% of global oil production, to ultimately cut output, said the two sources and a third source familiar with oil pumping operations.
The three sources asked not to be named due to sensitivity of the issue.
Transneft did not answer requests for comment.
DRONE STRIKES: 'THE FASTEST WORKING SANCTIONS'?
The West has imposed successive waves of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, focusing heavily on its oil and gas sector. But Moscow has managed to re-route most oil exports to Asia, where India and China are its primary buyers.

Last week, Ukrainian drones hit Russia's biggest oil port of Primorsk for the first time since the war began in 2022, temporarily forcing operations there to shut down.
Primorsk has capacity to export more than 1 million barrels of oil per day, or more than 10% of Russia's total oil production.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the strikes had inflicted significant damage and called attacks on Russian oil infrastructure "the sanctions that work the fastest".

Reuters could not verify the extent of the damage from the strikes.
Russia, unlike leading OPEC producer Saudi Arabia, does not have significant capacity to stockpile oil.
Primorsk partially resumed operations on Saturday, though it remained unclear how long it may take to complete full repairs, the two sources said.
Russian had already lost some oil exporting capacity following another drone attack targeting the Ust-Luga oil terminal on the Baltic Sea in August, according to industry sources.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia - a group known as OPEC+ - have been increasing production since April after years of cuts aimed at supporting the oil market.
Under the latest OPEC+ agreement, Russia's oil production quota is due to rise to 9.449 million barrels per day this month from 9.344 million bpd in August.
"Russia's ability to ramp up oil production is now under threat due to limited storage capacity," U.S. bank J.P. Morgan said in a note.
Refinery outages, meanwhile, will also weigh on production due to crude storage congestion from lower refinery runs, Goldman Sachs wrote.
Both banks said production will decline only modestly as Asian buyers still had appetite for Russian crude.
 
Trump’s responses on this seem more like he he hasn’t been briefed or that he hasn’t absorbed it or understood it. Regardless, between saying ‘here we go,’ ‘could be a mistake,’ & the threat against Europe to halt all Russian oil shipments, the US’s leadership appears affectively neutralized.

I disagree. Also, this isn't the politics forum.
 
It shows how badly Russia is falling behind in air defense. Those systems are not easily produced and there is not much outside of Russia that they can draw on unless China were to risk further backlash by selling outright military equipment instead of dual use. The well is running dry.
Helps Turkey too if they want back in the F35 program.
Europe should purchase it from Turkey and give to Ukraine.
 


Two Russian oil refineries were attacked on Thursday as Ukraine stepped up strikes on its enemy’s energy infrastructure.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces claimed an attack on Lukoil PJSC’s major Volgograd refinery, while Gazprom’s Neftekhim Salavat petrochemical facility was set on fire after being hit by drones.

Russian refining runs have now dropped below 5 million barrels a day, the lowest since April 2022, according to estimates from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Two Russian oil refineries were attacked on Thursday as Ukraine stepped up strikes on its enemy’s energy infrastructure.

Gazprom’s Neftekhim Salavat petrochemical facility in the Bashkortostan region was set on fire after being hit by drones, local governor Radiy Khabirov said. The site is more than 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from territory under Ukraine’s control, making it one of Kyiv’s deepest strikes inside Russian territory.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces also claimed an attack on Lukoil PJSC’s major Volgograd refinery in the Volga region. Bloomberg couldn’t independently verify the claim, and Lukoil didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Since last month, Ukrainian military forces have intensified drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, including oil refineries, aiming to curb fuel supplies to the front lines. In August, at least 13 strikes were made, the largest monthly number since the start of the invasion in Ukraine. So far in September there have been at least six attacks.

Last week, drones also hit Russia’s largest Baltic oil terminal in Primorsk, and Ukraine claimed strikes on pumping stations feeding another Baltic hub, the Ust-Luga terminal.

“We’re determining the extent of the damage” at Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, Bashkortostan’s governor Khabirov said in a statement on his Telegram channel. Local emergency services are putting out the blaze, he said. The facility is designed to have a crude-oil-processing capacity of around 200,000 barrels a day.

Meanwhile, the Volgograd refinery — with a capacity of around 300,000 barrels a day — has halted operations after the attack, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said.

As a result of the repeated Ukrainian strikes, Russian refining runs have now dropped below 5 million barrels a day, the lowest since April 2022, according to estimates from JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Baltic strikes also reduced Russia’s weekly crude-export flows by more than 900,000 barrels a day, the sharpest weekly decline since July last year, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

So far, Ukraine’s allies have mostly ignored the attacks. While Washington and Brussels haven’t given public support for the strikes, they haven’t criticized either. That’s a shift from when Joe Biden was in the White House and members of his administration would reprimand Kyiv for incursions that affected Russia’s oil industry.

The Group of Seven nations are currently working on a new sanctions package against the Kremlin and are aiming to finalize a text in the next two weeks, Bloomberg reported earlier this week.
 

The RT-70 radio telescope was one of multiple astronomical facilities that fell into Russia's hands after the annexation of Crimea. The mountainous Crimea used to be a popular holiday destination in the former USSR, known for its sunny climate and sandy beaches. The peninsula's cloudless weather and peaky landscape also made it a hub for astronomy.

A 2024 UNESCO report estimates the overall damage to Ukrainian science infrastructure from the Russian war at $1.26 billion.
 
Russian economy is slowly and quietly collapsing.

Russian stores cut product assortment by 2.3% for food, 5.1% for children's goods, 5.6% for alcohol, 7.3% for face care.

Russian companies slashed 2025 investments by 733B rbls compared to 2024, Moscow Times
 

One or more large fires erupted early on Saturday at Russia’s Saratov oil refinery as it was hit heavily by Ukrainian drones that attacked the target deep inside Russian territory for at least the second time in a week. Videos vetted and posted by online analysts showed incoming UAVs followed by big explosions and flames rising from the site while air raid sirens blared. The major refinery is nearly 600km (370 miles) east of the frontline in Ukraine. The Russian governor in the area, Roman Busargin, confirmed an attack by UAVs.
 
Russia Preparing Push to Seize Kupyansk – Ukrainian Forces

The 10th Army Corps called the city a “strategic target” for Moscow in its Friday update, describing the fighting as “dynamic.” It said Russia has been accumulating troops in surrounding settlements and noted multiple attempts to breach Ukrainian defense lines in recent days. “The occupiers were accumulating forces near Radkivka and Holubivka; the gas pipeline was damaged and flooded. Attempts to cross the Oskil River by boat – most were destroyed by artillery, mortars, and [first-person view] FPV drones,” the update says.
Radkivka and Holubivka are settlements located immediately north of Kupyansk, currently under Russian occupation.
 
‘Russians Will Feel It’: Zelensky on Drone Strikes, Arms Exports, and Frontline Gains Ukraine ramps up drone strikes, prepares partial arms exports, and eyes security guarantees during UN talks, as frontline counteroffensives continue.

Ukraine is preparing a new prisoner exchange with Russia that could see up to 1,000 Ukrainians return home, while Kyiv ramps up drone strikes against Russian infrastructure and seeks urgent security guarantees ahead of the UN General Assembly, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a conversation with journalists on Sept. 19. “Rustam (Umerov – ed.) spoke with Medinsky about the exchange – they are in contact. We want to take 1,000 people, we are working on lists,” he said.

On broader negotiations with Russia, Zelensky noted there has been no real progress. “We can meet with them at least tomorrow, if we just want to talk. But we need a result. We have read all their memorandums, we know them well. And they have read ours – they have studied them very well. They know what they want, and we know what we want,” the president said. He added that Moscow is deliberately dragging out talks and has no intention of ending the war. Zelensky said he would raise the issue with US President Donald Trump and also with China.
 
Reuters: After diplomatic blitz on Ukraine and Gaza, Trump moves to passenger seat

>>WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Pentagon officials sat down with a group of European diplomats in late August and delivered a stern message: The U.S. planned to cut off some security assistance to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all NATO members bordering Russia.
More broadly, Pentagon official David Baker told the group, according to an official with direct knowledge of the comments, Europe needed to be less dependent on the U.S. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. military would be shifting its attention to other priorities…

Some European diplomats fretted that the move could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, they may have been proven right.
Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace for roughly 10 minutes, Estonia said, before being chased away by Italian F-35s. Russia denied violating Estonian airspace, saying its jets flew over neutral waters.
Hours later, Russian jets buzzed a Polish oil platform, Warsaw said. Last week, Russian drones were downed in Poland.

The U.S. response to those incidents has so far been muted. Trump did not address the latest incursion for several hours, before saying it could be "big trouble." After last week's Polish incident, he posted cryptically on his Truth Social app: "Here we go!"
His responses appear to fit an emerging pattern.
After months of proposing both ideas to solve or intermediate some of the world's most intractable conflicts, Trump has largely withdrawn from diplomacy in recent weeks. …

Still, analysts expressed concern that the mild U.S. reaction to Russia's latest provocations will only encourage more aggressive steps by Putin.
Further U.S. disengagement "would lead us to more provocative actions from Putin as he sees Europe as weaker because it can be divided - especially without the U.S. there to back it up," said Alex Plitsas, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Several European diplomats in Washington privately expressed exhaustion at Trump's changeable attitude on Russia - and suggested another hardening of his stance toward Moscow could lack credibility. …

But the anti-climactic summit with Putin produced no breakthroughs and a major setback for Kyiv: Trump left the meeting saying a ceasefire in Ukraine was not a precondition of lasting peace - a position held by Putin, but not European allies. … <<
 
Russia launches a large-scale attack on Ukraine, killing 3 and wounding dozens

Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting regions across Ukraine early Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks took place across nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv.

“The enemy’s target was our infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises,” he said, adding that a missile equipped with cluster munitions struck a multistory building in the city of Dnipro. “Each such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on his official Telegram account.
 


The UK’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has told the Russian delegation to the UN their country is risking armed conflict but that British jets are ready to confront Moscow’s planes violating Nato airspace.

 
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