Political strategic level
Poland will send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days. The first 4 fighters will be handed over to Ukraine immediately, but the total number of aircraft that Ukraine will receive from Poland has not been announced. Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a joint press conference with Czech President Petr Pavel that "the Czech Republic and Poland are undoubtedly countries that are at the forefront of assistance to Ukraine".
The White House reacted to Warsaw's move by saying that Poland's decision to send Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine was a "sovereign decision" that would not prompt US President Joe Biden to send US F-16s to the country.
Washington must have felt "warned" by Warsaw's decisive actions and a position that has remained unchanged since the first days of the large-scale war. Russia equated sending fighter jets to Ukraine at the start of the invasion with nuclear war, and tried to 'destroy' us for such calls.
This difference in positions does not reflect a confrontation between the NATO countries, but a difference in perception and values of the geopolitical characteristics of the region. Poland knows that if it does not stop Russia in Ukraine, it will have to stop the barbarian hordes. That is why Warsaw has already allocated a record 4% of its budget to defence, buying almost 1 000 tanks, more than 600 artillery pieces and 48 FA-50 fighter jets from South Korea to partly replace the equipment it has given to Ukraine. Poland intends to start production of modernised tanks by 2026.
Poland is, in our eyes, behaving in the most rational way. Although it is a reliable member of NATO, it is the most self-confident and is preparing to go to war with Russia, even if it is left alone on the battlefield. When you train yourself every day and take care of your boxing gloves, you no longer have to hope that, in case of trouble, somebody will take the trouble to give you a change of NATO underpants.
The Pentagon has released footage of a Russian aircraft attacking a US Air Force surveillance drone over the Black Sea. The 42-second video shows a Russian Su-27 approaching the rear of an MQ-9 drone and beginning to refuel before hooking the drone's propeller. This is why, according to the US military, the UAV fell into the sea.
Following calls by some US politicians (and us 😊 ) to shoot down Russian warplanes approaching American aircraft, Russia's ambassador in Washington, Mr Antonov, said that a deliberate attack on a Russian drone in neutral airspace would be an open declaration of war on the world's largest nuclear power. The representative of the terrorist state was furious at US Senator Lindsey Graham's tough stance calling for action to shoot down Russian planes approaching US aircraft in international airspace. The terrorist spokesman, Antonov, claims that this provokes a strain in relations between Moscow and Washington. "An armed conflict between Russia and the US would be fundamentally different from the war the Americans are waging against us remotely in Ukraine", Lavrov's confidant threatens.
This is Zhirinovsky's scare tactic - "taking the flak". The Kremlin's criminals know very well that a military conflict between the US and Russia would not last very long and would end in the complete capitulation of the terrorist state.
Yesterday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks with China's top diplomat Qin Gang. They discussed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky's peace formula and the "one China" principle. Afterwards, Qin Gang stated that China is concerned about the possible escalation of the "crisis" with Russia and will continue to play a constructive role in seeking a ceasefire to stop the war, defuse the crisis and restore peace. China reportedly hopes that Russia and Ukraine will resume peace talks in the near future.
Russia will only resume talks in two cases: if Beijing stops supporting Moscow, or if Moscow is convinced that Western support for Ukraine will only increase in the coming years and that it will not be long before peacekeeping forces are introduced. Unfortunately, the Kremlin's doubts about long-term Western support for Ukraine, its confidence in the subversive activities of the FSB, the FSR agency and the disinformation they are producing, give Moscow hopes of winning the first stage of a large-scale war - the seizure of the Donbass.
As regards Chinese support, it must be admitted that the differences between the West and China are only deepening, despite the planned visits to Beijing by French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. China is most unhappy with the US, whose proposed 'path is wrong and dangerous'.
The situation is very clear. Beijing wants Taiwan as a gift and Moscow wants Ukraine, at least until Kyiv and, of course, only for the time being. The paradox is that the giant countries that live in darkness, that are backward in their consciousness, that are ruled by dictators, are products of Western civilisation. China is the most invested product of the US, and Russia is the resource mill of Western Europe.
Putin's spokesman Peskov said that the Moldovan leadership had contracted a "Russophobic infection". Moscow wants good neighbourly relations with Chisinau and knows nothing about the existence of a plan to conquer Moldova. "I do not exclude the possibility that this is another fabrication, which is now being published in the Western media", Putin said.
"We deeply regret that today's Moldovan leadership has completely unfounded stereotypes towards Moscow. They are probably infected with such a Russophobic infection", Peskov said.
D. Peskov is trying to say that the Russian marodier, from whose graves the blood of murdered mothers and their babies drips, should be welcomed as a friendly and nice neighbour.
The Polish security services have detained six people on suspicion of spying for Russia. Officials of the Internal Security Agency managed to unravel the entire spy network. Now the Kremlin will "catch" just as many Polish "spies" in Russia.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad said he would welcome any Russian proposals to establish new military bases in the country. Syria recognises the territories annexed by Russia and supports Moscow in its war against Ukraine.
If the war criminals Putin and Assad were to take over the world, our entire civilisation would be plunged into darkness for centuries.
The Russian Führer Putin called the phrase 'unfriendly countries' inaccurate and untrue, because it is not so much the countries themselves that are unfriendly to Russia, but their elites or leaders. "The phrase 'unfriendly countries' has entered the public consciousness and is widely used here. However, it does not accurately reflect the current reality. We can say that it does not reflect reality at all, because in certain countries we have unfriendly elites, unfriendly officials", Putin said yesterday at the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
We would like to take this opportunity to say that Putin is not the elite of an 'unfriendly country'. Nor is Putin an enemy of the Russian people, as some politicians in our country claim. Putin is the embodiment of the hopes, thoughts and visions of the Russian majority.
Operational level
No fundamental changes.
Russian troops continue to storm Bakhmut and are preparing to resume the offensive in Vuhledare. According to US analysts, the Russian army has reduced the pace of its operations on the Ukrainian front. Over the past week, Russian forces have made only minimal tactical gains on the front line in the Luhansk region, while Ukrainian forces have managed to launch a few successful counter-attacks.
They believe that the Wagner offensive will not be sufficient to take Bakhmut. As the pace of operations slows down in critical parts of the frontline, Ukrainian forces may have more opportunities to regain the initiative.
The US is reportedly focusing on helping Ukraine prepare for the spring counter-offensive planned for May. Hundreds of Western tanks and armoured vehicles, missiles, special equipment for building bridges - everything needed for a counter-offensive - are being sent to Ukraine. 600 Ukrainian fighters have just completed five weeks of training in marksmanship and medical skills, as well as in the operation of US Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Stryker armoured personnel carriers. A second group of troops is now being trained.
Kiev has reportedly not yet decided on an offensive strategy: the first is to move south through Kherson into Crimea, while the second is to move east from its northern positions and then south, crossing a Russian land bridge.
The first option, according to officials, is unrealistic as Russia is well entrenched on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River and Ukraine lacks the troops to successfully conduct an airborne operation against such forces.
Meanwhile, the Russians are preparing for defensive action in occupied Crimea. Some 90 combat aircraft and 60 combat helicopters are deployed on the peninsula. A defensive grouping has been set up and is in the process of setting up fortifications and defensive lines. Preparations are under way for defensive action throughout the peninsula.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the most powerful fortifications are located in the north of the occupied Crimea, as well as in the southern regions of Kherson Oblast.
US officials insist that Kyiv should conserve artillery ammunition, but there is still a view among officials that Ukraine should not be told how to fight.
Western support is not unlimited. To unload tens of millions of shells overnight and demand more is not only incompetence but sabotage. Projectiles, drones and guns are not equipment that can keep raining down from the endless cornucopia of military goodies in the West.
Tactical level
Despite the losses, the Ukrainian army is carrying out offensives in some directions. Meanwhile, the occupying forces continue to concentrate their efforts on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Maryinka and Shakhtarsk axes. The Russians have carried out more than 70 attacks there over the past day, contradicting US analysts' claims of a slowdown in operations.
Over the course of the day, Russian terrorists launched 5 missile strikes, 18 air strikes and 73 attacks from cruise missile systems. Another shelling of Kostyantynivka resulted in 6 civilian injuries, damage to more than 20 houses, a school and other civilian infrastructure.
The likelihood of Russian missile strikes across Ukraine remains high.
The forced issuance of passports to the residents of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya region continues. In the city of Melitopol, the occupation authorities, together with representatives of the Russian Federal Tax Service, have banned all payments and settlements for residents who do not have a Russian taxpayer registration card number. The number can only be obtained with a passport of a Russian citizen.
Over the past day, the Ukrainian Air Force has launched 7 strikes against the occupiers' concentrations, while rocket and artillery units have hit 5 checkpoints, 5 concentrations of military personnel and equipment, a fuel and lubricant depot, 2 radar stations, an electronic warfare station and an anti-aircraft complex.
At least one person was killed and two injured in a fire at the Russian Federal Security Service building in Rostov-on-Don. Although Russia claims that the fire was caused by a short circuit that ignited the fuel tanks, some sources claim that an explosion occurred in the building. Mikhail Podoliak, Assistant to the President of Ukraine, stated on Twitter that "Ukraine is not interfering in these events, but is watching with pleasure".
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Russian Defence Minister awards pilots for shooting down US drone. Associated photo.
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