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Kaja resembles Athena, goddess of warfare.
Orban gives DisPutin gas.
I’ll give you Tomahawks and drones, too
That ain’t all, that ain’t all I’ll do for you
Oh, I’ll you bring it to thee
Bring our sweet loving
Bring it on home to thee
Yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
Why Ukraine Is Betting on Strikes Deep Inside Russia
“The Kremlin will only negotiate if missiles and drones bring the pain of war home to Russians, Ukrainian officials say.”…
…”Ukrainian officials argue that they still have a strategy to end the war: Strike deep inside Russia with missiles and drones.
Refineries, factories, ports and railroad lines have already been blown up. Ukraine now has an arsenal capable of hitting much of western Russia, where much of the country’s oil processing industry is concentrated. Kyiv has also announced a new weapon, called the Flamingo, that it says could reach Russia’s industrial heartland in the Ural Mountains.”…
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/world/europe/ukraine-long-range-strikes-russia.html
Plotting for DisPutin’s plot.
Brother, brother, why do you push?
Why do you push? Why do you push?
Matey matey, did you send waves towards me?
I’ve been fighting all you Russian lowlifes
Front-trench centre, just above the ice
Please don’t ask me
Why our drones pi$$ you off
To Inflict Pain on Russians, Ukraine’s Drones Zero In on Oil Refineries
“With Russian forces gaining slowly on the battlefield, Ukraine hopes its long-range drone campaign will help persuade Vladimir V. Putin to change course.”…
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/world/europe/ukraine-drones-russia-oil-refineries.html
You got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count war’s bloody
When you’re sitting at peace tables
There’ll be time enough for counting
When death dealing’s done
Mere pocket money to DisPutin… Bah, he carries more than this in his wallet.
A long time ago in a fantasy far, far away…"
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Apparently he will be. He announced his retirement.
Good idea to avoid the “Putin retirement plan”.
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As a result of the attack, the enemy suffered the following losses:
47 - “200”
34 - “300”
Destroyed equipment:
BBM- 1 unit;
Motorcycles - 7 units;
BTR-82 - 1 unit;
BMP-3 - 1 unit.
And also damaged:
Tank - 1 unit;
BMP-3 - 1 unit;
MT-LB - 2 units.
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Here come the flamingoes.
The Economist.
Europe | The war over energy
Ukraine’s hellfire is intensifying the Kremlin’s fuel crisis
Almost half of Russia’s refineries have been hit by drones and missiles
Greetings from the UAFPhotograph: Satellite image (c) 2025 Maxar Technologies/Getty Images
Oct 5th 2025
UKRAINE CONTINUES to inflict deadly damage on Russia’s energy infrastructure, and the tempo is accelerating. The concerted drone attacks on oil refineries and other parts of Russia’s fuel-distribution system began in August, and the number of strikes is rising from two or three a week to four or five. Soon they will be daily.
At the end of August, Reuters reported that about 17% of Russia’s oil-refining capacity had been at least temporarily taken out. That figure now is certainly higher. Some unconfirmed reports suggest that as much as 40% of it has been affected, with about 20% down at any one time. Sergey Vakulenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre cautions that the numbers ebb and flow because most facilities can be repaired. However, he acknowledges that what is happening now is on a different scale from previous campaigns.
Benedict George, head of European oil-product pricing at Argus Media, an energy-market intelligence firm, says that Ukraine has hit 16 out of Russia’s 38 refineries and that although repairs are possible, damage becomes lasting when refineries are subjected to repeated attacks. Some, he says, have been hit up to three times. They include one of Russia’s biggest fuel-processing plants at Ryazan, which is 200km from Moscow and can normally produce 340,000 barrels a day. The destruction of the cracking units that break down crude oil into petrol, diesel and aviation fuel is a major headache for Russia because they are very costly and the sanctions regime makes them extremely hard to replace.
Seasonally adjusted, Russian diesel exports are at their lowest level since 2017 and wholesale prices have been climbing sharply. The impact is also being felt across a widening number of regions in Russia, with long queues of a kilometre and more at filling stations from Vladivostok in the far east to Volga near Moscow. Some authorities are introducing rationing. Russian-occupied Crimea has been especially hard hit, with motorists limited to buying 30 litres of fuel. Domestic fuel prices are at record highs. In response to the growing crisis, on September 25th a Russian deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, announced a partial ban on diesel exports and extended an earlier ban on petrol exports to the end of the year.
Oil-pumping stations and storage depots have also been hit by Ukrainian strikes, including a massive attack in mid-September on Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil-loading port on the Baltic Sea. However, says Mr Vakulenko, such facilities are harder to damage permanently and in fact crude exports have increased, as less is being refined. But crude exports are a much lower-margin business for Russia than selling refined products.
Map: The Economist
“The Ukrainians are on a roll,” says Sir Lawrence Freedman, a British strategist. “The Russians have a problem. They can’t stop this and the Ukrainians have no reason to let up.” Russia’s issue is the sheer number of targets that are available, the size of the area over which they are dispersed and the erosion of Russian air-defence capabilities after more than three years of war. Although the one-way attack drones the Ukrainians are using fly relatively slowly and carry warheads of only 60-120kg, they have the range and the accuracy to do serious damage.
About 60% of the deep strikes on Russian territory are carried out by Ukrainian Fire Point FP-1 drones, which with a smaller payload can reach targets 1,500km within Russia and have sophisticated software that can fend off intense electronic-warfare jamming. But critically, notes Olena Kryzhanivska, an expert on Ukrainian weapons systems, the FP-1s cost only about $55,000 each and are now being churned out at a rate of more than 100 a day. Ukraine is also using the heavier and more expensive Lyutyi drone, which has a range of 2,000km, and a machine-vision system to guide it to its target.
There are reports that FP-5 “Flamingo” cruise missiles have begun to be used, too. They are much faster than the drones, flying just 50 metres above the ground, with a range of over 3,000km and packing a huge punch thanks to a 1,150kg warhead. If the FP-5 proves capable of penetrating Russian air defences it will bring a new level of destructiveness to Ukraine’s campaign. Its range allows it to fool defences by flying on constantly changing vectors towards its target. To make the FP-5, Fire Point uses repurposed Soviet-era turbofan engines, and its carbon-fibre fuselage takes just six hours to produce. Fire Point is currently making two or three of the FP-5s a day, but that number is expected to rise to seven later this month. Each cruise missile costs about $500,000. By contrast, an American Tomahawk missile costs four times that, has a shorter range and carries a much lighter payload, though it is probably more accurate and harder to shoot down.
While Russia’s strategic air campaign is primarily focused on terrorising cities, Ukraine’s is aimed directly at Russia’s ability to sustain the war. As Mr Vakulenko notes, it is not about to bring Russia’s economy “to a screeching halt”. But the damage to the foreign-exchange earnings that Russia depends on to fuel its war is only going to get worse. And ordinary Russians increasingly feel that the war is coming home to them. ■
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G’day Blitzers.
It was an interesting deviation for the American Politics thread, venturing into autism and ADHD. Discussing what autism symptoms may look like (perhaps posting predominantly in the one thread) and which Blitzers show symptoms, or Blitzers self declaring that they’re not normal.
Ha, define “normal”? I mean… my mother was mad, my father was mad, but I’m okay. But I’m okay. But I’m okay.
I suspect we’re all stark raving mad for following Essendon… Anyways, Fark Carlton.
Speaking of the American Politics thread. This post probably belongs in there, but it straddles both genres.
Focus please.
Fun-d raising.
Zelensky’s going to teach the Orange Nong how to play cards.
Trump and Zelenskyy to meet Friday in Washington
The call comes comes one day after the leaders discussed the possibility of Kyiv acquiring Tomahawk missiles to strike more forcefully into Russia.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/13/trump-zelenskyy-meeting-00607196
A fair observation.
Georgia, you will be together, dear
If you do get Russia out of here
Putin will say that it’s not true
That he did it all for you
Georgia, won’t you tell them for me, dear
Ukraine held. Georgia is falling. Here is why that should terrify you
“Three years after Russia’s invasion, Ukraine still fights. Georgia’s pro-Western democracy quietly slipped into Moscow’s orbit. The strategic cost is massive.”…
A new meaning to “going nuclear”.
The article’s summary says it all…
…”If the US chooses pragmatism over principle, it may find itself presiding over the unraveling of a system it spent decades constructing. The decision on the fate of Ukraine could shift the world toward a multipolar landscape, where China and Russia dictate global norms on their own terms.”…
Rules-Based Order? “Kick ‘em in the nuts”.
Why NATO Needs Ukraine: Deterrence, Innovation, and the Defense of the Rules-Based Order
Welcome home, Andriy.
Legally… “Kick ‘em in the nuts”.
EU allocates $11M for special tribunal to prosecute criminals over Ukraine war
…”Speaking at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andriy Sybiha, Kallas said the bloc will continue to ensure full backing for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“Russia’s leaders are responsible for this war. There wouldn’t be any war crimes if there would not be the crime of aggression – so there would not be any atrocities either. Nobody should be left unpunished for crimes committed,” she said.”…
What’s involved in how to legally “Kick ‘em in the nuts”.
Beware the leopards of war.
Apathy grips region: Intel intercepts complaints from Belgorod resident about war started by Putin
Maybe Repugnican’ts are starting to realise the ramifications.
Republican Support for Arming Ukraine Increases as Trump Weighs Tomahawk Shipments
When in Russia…
Rightyo. Define a ‘Russian Peacetime’? Because I can’t ever farken remember one… Not EVER.
For every plus, there’s a minus.
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M109L in Azov Artillery Group: How Western Guns Perform in the Brigade – A Fighters’ Perspective (Eng Subs)
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Russian losses per 14/10/25 reported by the Ukrainian General Staff
+1200 men
+5 tanks
+29 artillery
+390 UAVs
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I think I’m in love with Kaja Kallas, but my wife is OK with it.
If GrandpaRoy2 thinks he’s cutting my grass he’s got another thing coming… Ahh Kaja. 
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Gosh, I can’t imagine why.
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Mark Rutte (NATO chief these days) doesnt miss out on a stab at Russia and their once daunting Med presence .. ooff.
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From the article, a chilling line that a few Blitzers in this thread might well have predicted…
The war mechanism that the Russian leader has created to maintain his power now prevents him from seeking a peace solution in Ukraine.
This war ends, only when Putin is defeated/deleted.
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This article is in turn, frightening and inspiring and makes the same point about Putin, there is no negotiating with him, defeat him or face oblivion.
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