Opinion | Time is not on Ukraine’s side

Key parts:

▪️For Putin, defeat is not an option. If he cannot be militarily successful this year, he must retain control of positions in eastern and southern Ukraine that provide future jumping-off points for renewed offensives to take the rest of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, control the entire Donbas region and then move west.

▪️Ukraine’s military capability and economy are now dependent almost entirely on lifelines from the West — primarily, the United States. Absent another major Ukrainian breakthrough and success against Russian forces, Western pressures on Ukraine to negotiate a cease-fire will grow as months of military stalemate pass.

▪️Putin believes time is on his side: that he can wear down the Ukrainians and that U.S. and European unity and support for Ukraine will eventually erode and fracture. To be sure, the Russian economy and people will suffer as the war continues, but Russians have endured far worse.

Macron promised to supply Ukraine with AMX-10R wheeled tanks

The AMR-10 RC tank was produced from 1976 to 1994. It was planned to be used as an armored reconnaissance vehicle. Instead of tracks, it moves on 6 wheels. The 300 horsepower engine allows it to reach highway speeds of up to 85 kilometers per hour.

The vehicle's armor is made of aluminum and protects the crew only from bullets and shrapnel. This explains the relatively low weight of the tank.

The AMR-10 RC is armed with a 105mm F-2 rifled gun and 7.62mm NF-1 machine gun. Armament of the vehicle is visibly poor.

Note that the use of the AMR-10 RS in Ukraine looks doubtful because of its poor cross-country capability. It is very likely that the wheeled vehicle gets bogged down in the mud off-road.

💥Source: ANNA-NEWS
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

US may supply Ukraine with Bradley M2A2 infantry fighting vehicles

This was announced by President Joe Biden.

The Bradley infantry fighting vehicle was designed in the USA in the 1970s and based on the XM723 prototype.

In developing the combat vehicle, experience in combat use of the Soviet BMP-1 was taken into account, as well as features of the German Marder IFV.

In the US, the Bradley was adopted as a more protected and heavily armed alternative to the M113 armoured personnel carriers which are already in use by the AFU.

💥Source: ANNA-NEWS
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

⚡️⚡️Key updates on Russia and #UkraineCrisis as on January 10

⚔Soledar battle
Russian war bloggers report that the Russian army has made advances in Soledar and is “rushing to the city center,” having close range battles for administrative buildings as well as residential towers. Some reports suggest that Ukrainian units have started retreating.

Meanwhile, President of Ukraine in his latest nightly address said the situation in Donbass remains very tough, but “due to the resilience of our warriors there, in Soledar, we have gained additional time and additional power for Ukraine”.

Zelensky note he “continued diplomatic marathon” started last year with his U.S. visit and held discussions with leaders of Czech Republic, Slovenia, Portugal and Macedonia to continue support Kyiv. Russian propaganda interpreted Zelensky’s statements as "preparation of the general masses for the surrender of Soledar and the defeat at Bakhmut”.

🧨Pumping weapons
The U.S. is considering sending Stryker armored combat vehicles to Ukraine in an upcoming aid package to help Kyiv fend off an expected Russian spring offensive, Politico writes citing two people familiar with the discussion.

The news comes at the backdrop of last week’s announcement of sending Ukraine 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, armoured vehicle able to carry an autocannon, a machine gun and TOW missiles. Strykers would be another capability boost for Kyiv’s rapidly growing arsenal and would help meet a critical need for armor, as concerns grow that Russia is planning a second mobilization for a major new offensive in the coming weeks, the publication notes.

Russia's new offensive is likely to be in the Zaporozhye direction, - a representative of Ukraine’s intelligence Vadim Skibitsky suggested in an interview with Corriere della Sera. He noted that increase in the intensity of attacks is expected between spring and summer.

🩸Oil output
Kommersant found out that Russia increased oil production by 2% by the end of 2022, to almost 535 million tons. The fastest company to increase its output was Surgutneftegaz, which by the end of last year emerged as number three players in terms of production, overtaking Gazprom Neft. Of the four largest oil producers, only Rosneft reduced its output.

However, industry watchers expect a reduction in the output in January—February due to effects of the EU and the US oil price cap. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that Russia’s flagship oil is selling at less than half international prices — and way below a Group of Seven imposed cap — at $37.80 a barrel at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk on Friday, according to data provided by Argus Media.

Further drop in the price could prompt Moscow to respond with production cuts, something it hasn’t ruled out in the past, the agency noted.

🇳🇱TV Rain’s new address
Russian opposition channel TV Rain (Dozhd TV) which was forces to stop operations in Russia last year obtained permission to broadcast in the Netherlands. Earlier, the channel broadcasted from Latvia but its licence got cancelled after an incident.

In a statement released by Media Commission of the Netherlands on December 22 it is noted that the application for licence was filed at the beginning of last month by a Dutch-registered entity. "The Commissariaat voor de Media [the Media Commission] has granted permission to TVR Studios B.V. to provide commercial television broadcasting services as a commercial media institution through a program channel called TV Rain," the statement reads. The license is valid for five years.


👉 Follow t.me/russiawire for daily updates, analytics and ground reportage from Russia, Donbass, and the neighbourhood.

In Dnipro, dismantling of the monument to Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov began.

💥Source: Дмитрий Никотин
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Tennis Australia has refused to suspend athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in the Australian Open-2023 Grand Slam tournament. The organization stressed that their position will remain unchanged despite all calls for disqualification of the athletes.

Earlier, Ukraine's ambassador to Australia Vasyl Miroshnychenko demanded that Australia ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in its tennis championship.

💥Source: Russia  Live
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

A head of the military bloc for a peace prize, a cannibal for the first place for vegetarianism, a paedophile for a kindergarten principal position, a homicidal maniac for a prize for humanism.

The Anglo-Saxons are turning the world upside down. But we must not lose our bearings.

And the Nobel Prize... What's dead is dead. That's it, no more prize for peace. They're giving it to just anyone.

💥Source: Мрія
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

My king identifies as a queen 😂. This video fully epitomizes the transgenderism in sports.

💥Source: Мрія
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

Ukrainian politician that encouraged her grandson to beat fellow children also beat a cat for meowing.

Truly, everytime you think that's the rock bottom, they can go lower.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov: "We are carrying out NATO's mission today, with no loss of their blood, with the loss of our blood, therefore they must expend their weapons for it."

A pure confession, while ordinary Ukrainian soldiers still believe the tales of the battle for their independence.

💥Source: Дмитрий Никотин
💥Our channel: Node of Time EN

⚡️⚡️Key updates on Russia and #UkraineCrisis as on January 11

🔴Soledar takeover
The founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the complete takeover of Soledar at midnight. Earlier, the same was stated by head of the DPR Denis Pushilin and military bloggers.

“The divisions of PMC Wagner took control of the entire territory of Soledar. A cauldron has been formed in the center of the city, in which urban battles are being fought. The number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow. Once again, I want to emphasize that no units except for the fighters of the Wagner PMC took part in the Soledar offensive”, Prigozhin noted.

Advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovych, in a regular Youtube stream confirmed that some units of the Ukrainian army fled near Soledar.

🇩🇪🇺🇦Baerbock at Kharkiv
While on a visit to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, 10 January, Annalena Baerbock, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany announced 20 million euros of financial aid for Ukraine to pay for the Starlink satellite connection service. Baerbock became the first German official to visit Kharkiv from the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, local media noted.

The money will go to purchase 10,000 Starlink terminals, a third of which will be handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "The real-time connection will allow the Ukrainian troops to precisely coordinate their actions while defending their Motherland and to better repel Russian attacks", the German official statement noted.

The statement didn’t mention Leopard tanks that Kyiv is seeking from Berlin despite that seems like the most pressing issue at the moment.

⚠️Persecuting Ukrainians
The National Police of Ukraine has initiated almost 2300 criminal proceedings on the facts of collaboration, spokesperson for the National Police Mariana Reva told Ukrainian TV channel.

"We already have almost 2300 criminal proceedings on the facts of collaboration. In fact, collaboration activities have a fairly wide range, ranging from supporting the enemy in social networks, justifying aggression, and ending with taking positions with the occupation authorities. The police are recording all these moments and investigating. We also report suspicion to the identified perpetrators."

🟢Humanitarian exchange
Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia Tatiana Moskalkova held a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart — Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmitry Lubinets. This was announced by Moskalkova in a Telegram post.

She said that she had discussed with the Ukrainian Ombudsman the issues of providing humanitarian assistance to citizens of the two countries, without providing any further details.

Earlier, Moskalkova said the meeting will be held on January 12-14 in Turkey. Lubenets, too, announced that the talks would take place in Turkey. He called the return home of servicemen and civilians the main topic of negotiations. The Ukrainian Ombudsman noted that "a lot of plans have been worked out" with his Russian counterpart for a conversation, which "he cannot tell publicly."

🔙By hook or crook
Russian Ministry of Finance began holding meetings with industry bodies regarding the return of IT specialists to the country, Kommersant has learned.

Among the ideas discussed are partial payments for "reverse relocation", as well as an increase in personal income tax from 13% to 30% for those who work from abroad, even if they formally remain tax residents. The possibility of providing IT specialists a waiver from mobilization is also being discussed.

👉 Follow t.me/russiawire for daily updates, analytics and ground reportage from Russia, Donbass, and the neighbourhood.

Well noted on Soledar

Reading Western media coverage today, we suddenly learn the city was not really strategically important and even that Ukraine is still (!) advancing. Oh boy

https://t.me/Reality_Theories/10994