*** Official Russia vs. Ukraine Discussion - Invasion has begun *** (2 Viewers)

[fatness]

Russian partisan group 'Freedom of Russia' sabotages trains used for military logistics

Russian rebel group 'Freedom of Russia' sabotaged dozens of trains while targeting the logistics infrastructure of the Russian military, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) reported on Nov. 6.

According to the report and an attached video set to some jaunty music, the partisans set fire to dozens of trains used by Russian forces to transport weapons, ammunition, and equipment to the front lines in Ukraine. The attacks reportedly damaged key control and power systems, severely disrupting military freight operations. HUR did not specify where the attacks took place, only that it was "on territory of the aggressor state." "The partisans’ incendiary cocktails incinerated the control and power supply systems of dozens of vehicles that provided transportation of military cargo," HUR said. "These sabotage actions have significantly slowed the movement of Russian military supplies and undermined the stability of logistical support to enemy units on the front."

 

[fatness]

'Pokrovsk is simply being absorbed' — Ukraine’s defense on a knife-edge

Ukrainian forces continue to stubbornly defend the pocket around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, despite relentless Russian assaults in and around the two cities, leading to an ever-increasing threat of encirclement.

Over two weeks since Russian soldiers were filmed breaking into the urban area of the mining city in Donetsk Oblast en masse, the city has descended into a deep gray zone, in which the concept of territorial control is lost in a fog of chaotic movement. "The situation hasn't changed that much in Pokrovsk," a Ukrainian drone pilot fighting in the area, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Kyiv Independent. "It’s a mess, with a bunch of our soldiers and a bunch of bastards and all of them mixed together."

 

[Dezbelief]

SBU Drone Hits Russia’s Tuapse Tanker, Triggering Major Fire Again

Russian authorities confirmed on Sunday that the seaport on the Black Sea coast was struck yet again as Ukraine continues to hit oil facilities across Russia.

www.kyivpost.com

Drones have struck oil facilities at the Tuapse port on Russia’s Black Sea coast yet again overnight on Sunday – setting major fire to an oil tanker – as confirmed by multiple sources.

Tuapse is home to one of Russia’s largest Black Sea oil export terminals, handling several million tons of crude and oil products annually – its proximity to Ukraine places it well within range of Ukrainian strikes.

Eyewitness accounts show fire erupting at the seaport after a reported drone strike, with Russian independent outlet Astra pinpointing at least three fires – one at the deep-water berthing complex of RN-Sea Terminal Tuapse LLC, and another at the oil loading berth near the Southern Mole.

In the port of Tuapse, fragments of drones fell on an oil tanker. The deck superstructure was damaged. The tanker’s crew was evacuated. A fire broke out on the vessel,” authorities said in a statement.

“The terminal’s buildings and infrastructure were also damaged. In addition, the glass in the railway station building was damaged. According to preliminary information, there are no injuries,” the statement adds.

Kyiv Post’s source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) later confirmed the strike.

The SBU source told Kyiv Post that its Alpha Special Operations Center, in cooperation with other military branches, was responsible for the attack that it said “hit a tanker and the loading infrastructure of the oil terminal of the port of Tuapse.”

The SBU said there were five drone hits recorded, setting a tanker on fire and disabling at least four oil tanker standers that load and unload tankers were disabled. Port buildings were also reportedly damaged.

According to the source, the aim is to limit Russia’s oil income, a key source of funding for its war in Ukraine.

The security service continues to strike at the Russian oil refining infrastructure, which gives the enemy resources for aggression against Ukraine,” the source said.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it downed 164 Ukrainian drones overnight – 32 over the Krasnodar Krai, where Tuapse is located, as well as 39 over the Black Sea.

Tuapse and Ukraine’s wider campaign against Russian oil
Oil facilities at Tuapse, located in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, have been a frequent target for Ukraine’s growing long-range campaign against Russian oil facilities.

The Tuapse refinery, owned by the Russian oil company Rosneft, has an annual processing capacity of approximately 12 million tons of crude oil. The plant specializes in primary oil refining, producing straight-run gasoline, diesel fuel and fuel oil, with a significant portion exported.

The seaport was one of the targets of a Ukrainian naval drone strike on Sept. 24, with Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) calling the attack a targeted move against “shadow oil exports by the aggressor state of Russia.”

Earlier in July, HUR launched another strike on oil refineries in Tuapse using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Ukraine’s Drone Strike Knocks Out Russia’s Only Black Sea Oil Refinery

Fuel shipments from Russia's Tuapse port have been halted due to drone damage, impacting operations at the nation's only Black Sea refinery, reports say.

united24media.com

Ukraine’s Drone Strike Knocks Out Russia’s Only Black Sea Oil Refinery

Fuel exports from Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse have been suspended after a Ukrainian drone strike damaged port infrastructure, forcing the local refinery to halt operations, Reuters reported, citing industry sources and ship-tracking data on November 5.

The attack, carried out on November 2, ignited a fire and damaged at least one vessel, Ukraine’s defense forces said. Tuapse is one of Russia’s key oil export hubs on the Black Sea, and the refinery—controlled by Rosneft—exports most of its production and is the only oil refinery Russia has on the Black Sea coast.

Regional officials confirmed the fire, though Rosneft and Russia’s port agency have not commented. Three tankers loading naphtha, diesel, and fuel oil were moored at the port during the strike but have since been moved offshore, according to LSEG data, Reuters wrote.

The Tuapse refinery, with a capacity of 240,000 barrels per day, mainly supplies China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Türkiye. The refinery had also been targeted by drones several times before.

Previously, it was reported that Russia’s seaborne crude shipments have dropped sharply, marking the largest decline since January 2024, as the latest round of US sanctions led key buyers, including China, India, and Türkiye, to pause purchases of Russian oil.

Chinese refiners were cutting back on Russian crude purchases after Washington and its allies expanded sanctions to include Moscow’s largest oil producers and some of their trading partners.

 

[fatness]

Lavrov is the guy who derailed the last proposed summit, and got more sanctions placed on Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s absence sets off alarm bells in Moscow

On Wednesday, the Russian business daily Kommersant – citing “informed sources” – raised eyebrows by reporting that the veteran diplomat “was absent by agreement” from the high-level confab with Putin. What’s more, observers noted that Lavrov was the only permanent member of the Security Council to miss the meeting. And in parallel, it emerged that the foreign minister would not be leading the Russian delegation to the G20 summit in Johannesburg later this month: Putin on November 4 signed a decree, appointing a more junior official, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin, to head up the delegation.

News of Lavrov’s no-show came just a couple of weeks after the collapse of a plan for an in-person summit in Budapest between Putin and US President Donald Trump. Lavrov was Russia’s point man for making that happen, but after a phone call between Lavrov and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the summit was put on ice. US officials said the Russians had not shifted from their maximalist position on Ukraine; the Trump administration followed with fresh sanctions on Moscow.

 

[fatness]

NATO has reversed Russia’s edge in ammunition production, Rutte says

NATO has now surpassed Russia in ammunition production after a period when Moscow outpaced the entire alliance’s output, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in Bucharest on Nov. 6. "Until recently, Russia was producing more ammunition than all NATO Allies put together. But not anymore," Rutte said at the NATO-Industry Forum in the Romanian capital. He credited the shift to an expansion of defense production capacity across the alliance. "Across the Alliance, we are now opening dozens of new production lines and expanding existing ones. We are making more than we have done in decades," he said, urging defense industries to "step up supply, expand existing production lines, and open new ones."

 

[fatness]

AI soldiers: How deepfakes are manipulating Ukraine’s mobilization narrative

The latest disinformation wave centers on fabricated stories about mobilization.

A TikTok account that appears to be the original source of the videos has posted at least a dozen clips depicting supposed AI-generated figures posing as Ukrainian soldiers in uniform. The account is anonymous, using only a nickname, but its reach has been vast — with some videos receiving more than two million views. In one of the most viral clips, an AI-generated "Ukrainian soldier" claims he was "mobilized" and sent to the town of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast. "Help me, I don't wanna die, I'm just 23 years old," the man says in the video.

Using Hive Moderation, an AI-based content detection tool, the Kyiv Independent verified that both the audio and video were generated using Sora, an OpenAI text-to-video model.

 

[fatness]

Robot rescues Ukrainian soldier trapped 33 days behind Russian lines, navigating minefields and mortar strikes

Ukrainian forces managed to rescue one of their own recently — a wounded soldier trapped for 33 days behind enemy lines — by sending a casket-shaped, off-road robot to navigate a perilous route dodging landmines and drone attacks to retrieve him. After six failed rescue attempts, the 1st Medical Battalion of the Ukrainian Ground Forces managed to rescue the soldier from Russian-occupied territory in the east of the country. The remotely operated robot, which looks like an armored casket mounted on an ATV frame and wheels, traveled a total of about 40 miles for the mission — almost 23 of them with a damaged wheel after it struck a landmine. The mission took just under six hours, according to the battalion, which shared a video of the operation on social media this week.

"The soldier's location was known, there was contact with him, food was being sent to him from the air — logistics were carried out by aerial drones. We began to develop a plan for his evacuation and study the route," Koval told CBS News. "Two attempts were unsuccessful due to enemy mines and drones waiting on the ground in ambush on the roads. The seventh mission was successful, despite the fact that the drone hit an anti-personnel mine." The robot reached the soldier, who climbed into the personnel capsule, laid down and closed himself inside. But the rolling rescue unit then came under attack by a Russian drone on its way back toward the battle line. The soldier survived thanks to the armored capsule.

 

[fatness]

Trump grants Hungary one-year exemption from Russian energy sanctions, White House says

“We’re looking at it, because it’s very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas. As you know, they don’t have, they don’t have the advantage of having sea,” Trump said ahead of a lunch at the White House with Orbán. Later, an official told CNN that Hungary had been granted a one-year exemption.

The exemption for Hungary will raise questions about the Trump administration’s seriousness in enforcing its sanctions on Russia’s oil exports. Analysts had warned that if Trump is seen to cut his allies some slack, this could embolden others to try to circumvent US sanctions, eroding their ability to inflict economic pain on Russia and hasten the end of its war in Ukraine.

 

[fatness]

Old fishing nets from France become vital protection against Russian drones in Ukraine

Fishers from the Brittany coast are sending horse-hair nets to catch weapons and shield civilians and soldiers

www.theguardian.com

Pretty ingenious.

In the fishing ports along France’s Brittany coast, the discarded fishing nets pile up along the coastal quaysides. The lifespan of a deep-sea net is between 12 and 24 months, after which they become worn and beyond repair. Until now, the estimated 800 tonnes of nets scrapped every year have been a problem.

Now, the horsehair netting, once used to trawl monkfish from the sea bed, is being used for another catch: Russian drones. The Breton charity Kernic Solidarités has sent two consignments of nets measuring a total of 280km to Ukraine to be used to protect soldiers and civilians along the frontline where fighting is fiercest. Russia employs small cheap drones and fits them with explosives, directing them by remote control for distances of up to 25km. The Ukrainians use the nets to create tunnels in which drone propellers become entangled. It has been compared to spiders catching flies in a web.

 

[fatness]

This anti-drone technology is used on the Ukrainian battlefield and in NATO airspace after flyovers

Two Danish companies whose business was predominantly defense-related now say they have a surge in new clients seeking to use their technology to protect sites like airports, military installations and critical infrastructure, all of which have been targeted by drone flyovers in recent weeks.

Weibel Scientific’s radar drone detection technology was deployed ahead of a key EU summit earlier this year to Copenhagen Airport, where unidentified drone sightings closed the airspace for hours in September. Counter-drone firm MyDefence, from its warehouse in northern Denmark, builds handheld, wearable radio frequency devices that sever the connection between a drone and its pilot to neutralize the threat.

 

[fatness]

Ukraine war briefing: Top banker’s straight talk to Putin over troubled economy

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that the head of Russia’s Sberbank, German Gref, spoke of Russia’s economic problems in a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. His bank was experiencing only “very modest” growth due to “challenging macroeconomic conditions” including a shrinkage of its consumer loan portfolio, while 2025 growth was worse thank the bank expected. “Gref’s statements are notable,” the ISW assessed, “as Russian officials have largely refrained from admitting to any weakness in Russia’s economy and as the Kremlin has undertaken an information campaign to portray the Russian economy as stable and strong.”

 

[fatness]

Zelenskyy fires ministers accused of involvement in bribery scheme as public outrage grows

Ukraine’s president said the justice minister Herman Halushchenko and energy minister Svitlana Grynchuk could no longer remain in their jobs. He also called for personal sanctions against his friend and former business partner Timur Mindich, the scheme’s alleged organiser. Acknowledging popular anger, Zelenskyy said: “There must be maximum integrity in the energy sector, in absolutely all processes. I support every investigation carried out by law enforcement and anti-corruption officials. This is an absolutely clear and consistent position for everyone.”

Promising accountability for those who break the law, he added: “Right now, it is extremely difficult for everyone in Ukraine – enduring power outages, Russian strikes and losses. It is absolutely unacceptable that, amid all this, there are also some [corruption] schemes in the energy sector.”

 

[fatness]

Ukraine war briefing: mass production of Ukrainian ‘Octopus’ interceptor drones begins

Ukraine says it has started mass production of its new domestically developed interceptor drones to strengthen air defences. The first three manufacturers had begun production and 11 more were preparing to set up production lines, the defence ministry said on Friday. The drones would be based on a domestically developed technology called “Octopus” to intercept Shahed drones. It had been tested in combat and proved to be working “at night, under jamming and at low altitudes”, the ministry said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the goal is to manufacture up to 1,000 of the interceptors a day. Russia has been steadily increasing the number of drones it uses in a single strike on Ukraine.

 

[fatness]

‘A Ukrainian witch kicks the crap out of Russian soldiers’: the new wave of horror films taking on Putin’s army

But, by 2024, Kostyuk says she realised the public mood had darkened. “People wanted revenge,” she says. That’s what The Witch delivers in spades. The film’s logline was: “This is a film where a Ukrainian witch kicks the **** out of Russians”, and it immediately resonated. For a western viewer, the film makes peculiarly grim viewing. After the invasion, Russian soldiers are shown raping and murdering before the witch casts her dark spells against them and they begin to die in ever more grotesque ways.
Kostyuk says: “The Witch was supposed to be a scary movie. It’s quite visual, quite graphic. But for Ukrainian audiences, it was not scary. They would look at those guts being splattered of the Russians and would be satisfied.”

 

[fatness]

Next day delivery, no weapons allowed: the unstoppable postal service keeping Ukraine going

Ukraine’s main postal service is, like the country’s rail network, one of its most vital, reliable arteries: a matter of national pride for Ukrainians and incredulity for visiting foreigners. Nova Poshta, founded 25 years ago, is one of the chief reasons that Ukraine continues to function during a time of extraordinary violence and peril. It is affordable – it costs the equivalent of between £1.50 and £2.20 to send packages of between 5kg and 10kg within Ukraine – and it connects citizens across the nation and beyond, including those at the country’s most precarious, threatened edges.

“We used to see our jobs here as just work,” says Dobronos. “Now we see that it’s really important. We provide something of a peaceful life amid the war. In frontline areas, we are the last to leave and the first to come back.”

 

[fatness]

Putin offers another distraction.

Kremlin says it hopes for a new Putin-Trump summit

The Kremlin said on Monday that it hoped another summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump could take place as soon as the necessary preparation had been completed.

Asked if Moscow had missed an opportunity, and under what conditions a new Putin-Trump meeting might happen, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "We can hardly predict now when these conditions will arise. Although, of course, we are all interested in these conditions occurring sooner rather than later."
He said both sides agreed a summit required deep preparation in order to be productive.
"Therefore, as soon as this preparation is completed and the conditions for holding the summit are in place, we hope it will take place."

 

[fatness]

Ukraine war briefing: Greece signs deal to supply gas to Kyiv over ‘difficult’ winter

Greece has signed a deal with Ukraine to supply US-origin liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the country amid the crippling of its energy infrastructure from Russian strikes. Sunday’s agreement came as Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Athens at the start of a European tour aimed at shoring up Ukraine’s defences and energy supply ahead of winter. The deal – to run from December until March 2026 – “marks an essential step in strengthening regional energy cooperation and European energy security”, said a joint statement from the Ukrainian president and the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after they met. The deal would make it possible to “support Ukraine in the midst of a difficult winter”, they said. The deal came as Ukrainian energy infrastructure was damaged by Russian drone strikes overnight into Sunday in the Odesa region, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. A solar power plant was among the damaged sites.

 

[fatness]

Zelensky, Macron Strike Landmark Deal for Rafale Jets, SAMP/T Air Defenses

Ukraine has secured one of its most significant long-term defense commitments yet after President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron signed a 10-year security pact in Paris on Monday, opening the door for Kyiv to acquire Rafale fighter jets, SAMP/T air-defense systems, advanced missiles and anti-drone technology.
The agreement, signed at Villacoublay Air Base outside the French capital, marks a major step in Ukraine’s push to rebuild and modernize its air power as Russia continues to pound the country with drones and missiles.
Zelensky called the pact a “truly historic moment for both nations,” saying it opens a path for Ukraine to buy military equipment from France’s defense-industrial base.

 

[fatness]

EXPLAINED: Why France’s SAMP/T Could Be Ukraine’s Air-Defense Game Changer

The French-Italian SAMP/T system could fill a critical gap in Ukraine’s air defenses by giving Ukrainians a way to defend themselves from Russian ballistic missiles, without having to depend on on-again/off-again, White House-dictated deliveries of the comparable US-made Patriot system. The problem is production – the manufacturers MBDA and Thales only can produce a few SAMP/T systems a year, and Ukraine needs dozens.

On paper, the most advanced versions of the Aster 30 can intercept an aircraft at 150 km., a mid-sized ballistic missile similar to the ones Russia shoots at Ukraine at 600 km., and a large-sized intercontinental ballistic missile at even greater ranges. The most expensive Aster 30 missile costs about $2 million. An entire SAMP/T system including radars, support vehicles, launchers and reloads reportedly costs around $500 million.

The US Patriot air defense system was first fielded in the 1990s and compared to SAMP/T is battle-tested with decades of combat experience built into upgrades. By performance specs Patriot can hit a target at a higher altitude than SAMP/T, but it is designed to fire two interceptor missiles at every incoming target. The interceptor missile fired by the Patriot, the PAC-3, costs about five times the French-Italian Aster 30. A battle-ready Patriot system costs about twice a SAMP/T. US production of PAC-3 interceptor missiles is about twice that of Aster 30. Beyond the European cost advantage, most analysts consider US arms deliveries to Ukraine unreliable. Because of US domestic politics the current US administration has reneged on sending Ukraine arms it promised at least three times; most recently in March.

 

[fatness]

Putin’s Power Bloc Is Cracking: A Hidden Fight Inside Moscow

Inside Moscow, two powerful factions fight for control. One group uses raids, arrests, and intimidation to seize budgets and suppress rivals. The other uses audits, seizures, and legal pressure to take assets and expand influence. These competing networks are tearing apart the system that once held Vladimir Putin’s regime together.
This internal struggle explains Russia’s growing military failures and economic paralysis. Commanders hesitate to move supplies. Bureaucrats delay critical paperwork. Every Ukrainian drone strike triggers another conflict inside Moscow as elites blame each other for failures. What looks like battlefield weakness is rooted in political chaos.
Tanks guarding Moscow streets reveal the depth of fear at the top. The regime is not protecting itself from protests. It is guarding against its own security services and power brokers.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Russian Oil Plunges With Top Producers Days Away From Sanctions

>>Russia’s flagship oil price plunged to the lowest in over 2 1/2 years last week, with days to go until US sanctions are due to hit the nation’s two largest producers.

The price of the nation’s Urals grade plunged as low as $36.61 a barrel from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Thursday, the lowest since March 2023. It was a similar trend in the Baltic Sea, according to data from Argus Media. Both prices edged up on Friday.<<

- There’s a wonderful graph in this article showing the Russian decline, like a mountain goat jumping off a glacier’s edge. It’s also here.

 

[fatness]

Russian Oil Plunges With Top Producers Days Away From Sanctions

>>Russia’s flagship oil price plunged to the lowest in over 2 1/2 years last week, with days to go until US sanctions are due to hit the nation’s two largest producers.

The price of the nation’s Urals grade plunged as low as $36.61 a barrel from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Thursday, the lowest since March 2023. It was a similar trend in the Baltic Sea, according to data from Argus Media. Both prices edged up on Friday.<<

- There’s a wonderful graph in this article showing the Russian decline, like a mountain jumping off a glacier’s edge. It’s also here.

From that article:

In previous times it was calculated that Russia needs around 70 USD per barrel in order to balance its expenditure. This does not even include the lower volumes Russia is currently selling, thanks to the Ukrainian strikes against oil terminals

 

[The Z Machine]

Russian Oil Plunges With Top Producers Days Away From Sanctions

>>Russia’s flagship oil price plunged to the lowest in over 2 1/2 years last week, with days to go until US sanctions are due to hit the nation’s two largest producers.

The price of the nation’s Urals grade plunged as low as $36.61 a barrel from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Thursday, the lowest since March 2023. It was a similar trend in the Baltic Sea, according to data from Argus Media. Both prices edged up on Friday.<<

- There’s a wonderful graph in this article showing the Russian decline, like a mountain jumping off a glacier’s edge. It’s also here.

From that article:

In previous times it was calculated that Russia needs around 70 USD per barrel in order to balance its expenditure. This does not even include the lower volumes Russia is currently selling, thanks to the Ukrainian strikes against oil terminals

Seems pretty unsustainable. But then again, the human toll on Ukraine is also unsustainable.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Witkoff - seriously - tweets out confirmation of back door US-Russian plan on one-sided “peace deal.”

[Please feel free to imagine my invective & sentiment on this]

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Soooooo…I have an opportunity to work with a volunteer organization to deliver used ambulances to Kyiv. I’m seriously considering doing it. The trip would be from Frankfurt to Kyiv. Next May. Thoughts?

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

US & Russia negotiated a deal leaving Ukraine & Europe out.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Financial Times report - Ukraine essentially neutered.

- Hopefully as usual Trump is spun back around.

 

[bolzano]

Financial Times report - Ukraine essentially neutered.

- Hopefully as usual Trump is spun back around.

This jives with my understanding of what’s been transpiring since the Alaska summit. Trump has been using Donbas as the main carrot to get Russia to agree to a ceasefire. But, now that the fortress city of Prokrovsk has fallen, Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and the rest of what remains of Donbas is highly vulnerable. So, he’s trying to rush through a deal before that carrot is kaput.

 

[fatness]

On Wednesday, citing a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter, Axios reported that the new U.S. plan envisaged Ukraine granting Moscow part of eastern Ukraine it does not currently control in return for a U.S. security guarantee for Kyiv and Europe against future Russian aggression.
A European diplomat, commenting on the purported new U.S. proposals, said they could be another attempt by the Trump administration "to push Kyiv into a corner", but added there could be no solution that did not take into consideration Ukraine's position or that of Washington's European allies.
Another European diplomat said the suggestion that Ukraine cut its army seemed like a Russian demand rather than a serious proposal.

Exclusive: Ukraine expected to give up land, some arms under US peace plan, sources say

The U.S. has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine must accept a U.S.-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

The U.S. has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine must accept a U.S.-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the proposals included cutting the size of Ukraine's armed forces, among other things. Washington wants Kyiv to accept the main points, they said.

 

[fatness]

Europe left in the dark over US-Russia peace plan for Ukraine

News website Axios reports that the Administration of US President Donald Trump has started briefing EU officials on the plan in which they reportedly had no involvement. The Americans expect revisions based on their feedback. The Commission did not respond to Euractiv’s request for comment.

An EU official could not confirm whether the EU had been part of the talks on the plan pushed by Trump’s Special Envoy for Peace Missions, Steve Witkoff. “The EU has been continuously coordinating with the Americans on settling a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” the official told Euractiv. According to US and Russian officials, Witkoff drafted the proposal in close coordination with his Russian counterpart, Kirill Dmitriev, Axios reports.

Witkoff is so overmatched here. Hopefully European leaders make the plan more sensible.

 

[bolzano]

Russia’s stated objectives for the SMO were Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and de-Nazification. So, let’s not buy the spin that’s gonna come from the WH… Russia will have basically achieved all its goals (plus getting Donbas), and thus this deal amounts to Russian victory and Ukrainian/ Western defeat.

 

[Zeppelin]

What a ****ing joke.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Soooooo…I have an opportunity to work with a volunteer organization to deliver used ambulances to Kyiv. I’m seriously considering doing it. The trip would be from Frankfurt to Kyiv. Next May. Thoughts?

Sounds awesome. I belong to a sort of social club in NO (it’s a thing we do here) & one day I was sitting next to a guy at a table during trivia night & he ends up telling us he won’t be back for a while because he was going to Ukraine. His wife is Ukrainian, she has family there, he was going to help. He seemed undaunted by the risks.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Soooooo…I have an opportunity to work with a volunteer organization to deliver used ambulances to Kyiv. I’m seriously considering doing it. The trip would be from Frankfurt to Kyiv. Next May. Thoughts?

Sounds awesome. I belong to a sort of social club in NO (it’s a thing we do here) & one day I was sitting next to a guy at a table during trivia night & he ends up telling us he won’t be back for a while because he was going to Ukraine. His wife is Ukrainian, she has family there, he was going to help. He seemed undaunted by the risks.

The risks seem nominal? we are only in Ukraine for 3 days. Cross from Poland to Lviv. Lviv to Kyiv. Train back to Poland the next day.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Soooooo…I have an opportunity to work with a volunteer organization to deliver used ambulances to Kyiv. I’m seriously considering doing it. The trip would be from Frankfurt to Kyiv. Next May. Thoughts?

Sounds awesome. I belong to a sort of social club in NO (it’s a thing we do here) & one day I was sitting next to a guy at a table during trivia night & he ends up telling us he won’t be back for a while because he was going to Ukraine. His wife is Ukrainian, she has family there, he was going to help. He seemed undaunted by the risks.

The risks seem nominal? we are only in Ukraine for 3 days. Cross from Poland to Lviv. Lviv to Kyiv. Train back to Poland the next day.

I hope so. I didn’t mean to underplay it. Good luck & should you survive you’ll have some classic tales.

 

[BassNBrew]

Soooooo…I have an opportunity to work with a volunteer organization to deliver used ambulances to Kyiv. I’m seriously considering doing it. The trip would be from Frankfurt to Kyiv. Next May. Thoughts?

Sounds awesome. I belong to a sort of social club in NO (it’s a thing we do here) & one day I was sitting next to a guy at a table during trivia night & he ends up telling us he won’t be back for a while because he was going to Ukraine. His wife is Ukrainian, she has family there, he was going to help. He seemed undaunted by the risks.

The risks seem nominal? we are only in Ukraine for 3 days. Cross from Poland to Lviv. Lviv to Kyiv. Train back to Poland the next day.

So essentially less risk than attending a Raiders game in person.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Soooooo…I have an opportunity to work with a volunteer organization to deliver used ambulances to Kyiv. I’m seriously considering doing it. The trip would be from Frankfurt to Kyiv. Next May. Thoughts?

Sounds awesome. I belong to a sort of social club in NO (it’s a thing we do here) & one day I was sitting next to a guy at a table during trivia night & he ends up telling us he won’t be back for a while because he was going to Ukraine. His wife is Ukrainian, she has family there, he was going to help. He seemed undaunted by the risks.

The risks seem nominal? we are only in Ukraine for 3 days. Cross from Poland to Lviv. Lviv to Kyiv. Train back to Poland the next day.

I hope so. I didn’t mean to underplay it. Good luck & should you survive you’ll have some classic tales.

I didn’t think you underplayed it

 

[fatness]

US and Russian officials draft plan to end Ukraine war based on capitulation from Kyiv

US and Russian officials have quietly drafted a new plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory and severely limit the size of its military, it was reported on Wednesday as Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least 25 people in the city of Ternopil. The draft plan, which was reportedly developed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, would force draconian measures on Ukraine that would give Russia unprecedented control over the country’s military and political sovereignty. The plan is likely to be viewed as surrender in Kyiv.

The two men have formed an important but unofficial backchannel between Moscow and Washington, and it was unclear whether the Trump administration had formally backed the plan. The Financial Times and Reuters reported that the proposal would require Ukraine to cede territory it controls in the east of the country and halve the size of its military, conditions that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has in the past called non-starters. Other conditions include limiting US military assistance and categories of armaments used by the Ukrainian military.

 

[The Z Machine]

As always, it's up to Ukraine hownlong they fight. It is not up to the US to make deals on their behalf.

 

[fatness]

Ukraine's ATACMS strikes against Russia are officially back after months of delays

Ukraine said on Tuesday that it targeted Russian territory with US-made ATACMS, in its first public announcement of such a strike since the second Trump administration began. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces did not provide further details of the attack, only saying that the long-range missiles were used in a "precision strike." "The use of long-range strike capabilities, including systems such as ATACMS, will continue," its Tuesday statement said.

Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, are powerful ground-launched missiles with a maximum range of about 190 miles. They are typically fired through the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or M240 Multiple Launch Rocket System launchers, both of which Ukraine possesses.

 

[fatness]

Ukraine: US-Russian peace proposal is ‘absurd’ and unacceptable

A new US-Russian peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine has been dismissed as “absurd” and unacceptable by officials in Kyiv amid talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a high-ranking US army delegation.They said the proposal reportedly drafted by Kirill Dmitriev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff was a “provocation”, the aim of which was to stir up division and “disorientate” Ukraine’s allies, they added.

“There are currently no signs that the Kremlin is ready for serious negotiations. Putin is trying to stall for time and avoid US sanctions,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine’s foreign policy parliamentary committee. He dismissed Dmitriev as a “nobody”.

 

[fatness]

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy receives ‘draft plan’ from US and expects to talk with Trump in coming days – Europe live

We are just getting a line from Reuters that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expects to discuss the diplomatic opportunities for ending the war in Ukraine with US president Donald Trump in the coming days, according to his office.

Zelenskyy has reportedly received a draft peace plan from the US, and the two countries will jointly work on its further after Ukraine’s fundamental principles are also outlined, the agency reported.

 

[fatness]

If I'm remembering correctly, more sanctions on Russia are supposed to kick in on Friday.
I think Russia decided that the best way to avoid the sanctions was to negotiate another "peace deal" with Witkof, who's an inexperienced negotiator more interested in "a deal" than in any of the specifics of a deal.

 

[fatness]

Two Ukrainian men believed to be working with Russia identified as suspects in Polish rail sabotage attacks – as it happened

Two Ukrainian men have been identified as main suspects behind the rail sabotage incidents in Poland over the weekend, Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said. The perpetrators are believed to be working for Russian intelligence services, who had crossed into Poland from Belarus this autumn and fled to Belarus following the attacks. One of the suspects was previously convicted of sabotage in Ukraine.

The main incident in the village of Mika involved the use of a military-type C-4 explosive intended to blow up a train, it is believed. Speaking in the Polish parliament, Tusk said the two incidents were “unprecedented” and “perhaps the most serious, when it comes to the security of the Polish state, incidents since the beginning of the full-scale invasion on Ukraine”

 

[fatness]

Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg ‘quits’ after plan for US peace leaked

Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy Lt Gen Keith Kellogg is leaving the role, it has emerged hours after a US plan to end the war leaked. Lt Gen Kellogg, 81, is expected to step down as US special envoy in January in a departure that will deal a hammer blow to Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts to end the war on favourable terms. The retired general has been a key advocate for Ukraine inside the Trump administration at a time when the White House’s support for Kyiv has dwindled.

Initially feared to be something of a Ukraine sceptic, Lt Gen Kellogg quickly became one of Kyiv’s few allies in the White House, viewed as a sympathetic ear in an administration that has at times leaned toward Moscow’s view on the origins of the war in Ukraine. At times, it put him at odds with Steve Witkoff, the president’s lead negotiator, who has advocated a lopsided territorial swap as part of a long-term peace deal.

 

[tymarsas]

The provision that limits the size and capability of the Ukrainian military seems completely unacceptable if I am Ukraine. There is 0 chance Ukraine will ever instigate a armed conflict with Russia. It is basically setting up a future Russian invasion.

 

[massraider]

Geez, why would Ukraine and the EU need to be involved? They'd probably just muddy things up with their selfish, unrealistic demands

 

[massraider]

The provision that limits the size and capability of the Ukrainian military seems completely unacceptable if I am Ukraine. There is 0 chance Ukraine will ever instigate a armed conflict with Russia. It is basically setting up a future Russian invasion.

"Yeah, we already gave up nukes based on the promise you would not attack us...."

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The Dmitriev-Witkoff 28 point plan for abandonment & abject surrender.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg ‘quits’ after plan for US peace leaked

Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy Lt Gen Keith Kellogg is leaving the role, it has emerged hours after a US plan to end the war leaked. Lt Gen Kellogg, 81, is expected to step down as US special envoy in January in a departure that will deal a hammer blow to Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts to end the war on favourable terms. The retired general has been a key advocate for Ukraine inside the Trump administration at a time when the White House’s support for Kyiv has dwindled.

Initially feared to be something of a Ukraine sceptic, Lt Gen Kellogg quickly became one of Kyiv’s few allies in the White House, viewed as a sympathetic ear in an administration that has at times leaned toward Moscow’s view on the origins of the war in Ukraine. At times, it put him at odds with Steve Witkoff, the president’s lead negotiator, who has advocated a lopsided territorial swap as part of a long-term peace deal.

Kellogg was brushed aside after his first exchange wuth the Kremlin where he made it clear he would defend US interests like a traditional, normal national security expert.