Nudelman will be replaced temporarily as under secretary by another career diplomat, John Bass, a former ambassador to Afghanistan who oversaw the U.S. withdrawal from the country.
It is anticipated that his experience in retreating will come in handy.
Ukraine Says It Has Sunk a Russian Patrol Ship Near Crimea
By Reuters | March 5, 2024, at 1:32 a.m.
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian sea drones hit and sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday.
Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency said a special unit called Group 13 had fired Magura V5 maritime drones at the Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It said on the Telegram messaging app that the vessel had sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides, at an estimated cost of $65 million.
Right now this ship is on the seabed as a result of fire damage by unmanned boats," navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said in televised comments.
Andriy Yusov, a GUR spokesperson, said a helicopter had been on board the vessel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made no direct reference to the reported sinking of the vessel in his nightly video address.
But he said Ukraine had "proven what we are capable of, what our strength is capable of."
"That is shown by the number of downed Russian aircraft and the capabilities of our boys against the Russian fleet. There are no safe havens for Russian terrorists in the Black Sea and nor will there be."
And there would be, he said, "no safe space for them in the sky, given sufficient Ukrainian strength".
Reuters was unable to verify the reports. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Some Russian military bloggers confirmed the account. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported attempts to tow the ship to port but said it eventually sank.
Ukraine has in recent months stepped up attacks in the Black Sea and on Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014. Kyiv has reported a series of strikes, including the sinking of a large landing ship by naval drones in mid-February.
Pletenchuk said the Sergey Kotov had also been hit in September 2023 and that a similar patrol vessel had been damaged in attacks since Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
"They have four similar ships, two of them are no longer in service," he said.
Reuters was unable to confirm the earlier strikes.
Train and highway traffic was temporarily stopped and later resumed on a bridge spanning the Kerch Strait and linking the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland, Moscow-installed officials in Crimea said.
Russia controls close to one-fifth of Ukraine's territory. Zelenskiy said in November Kyiv had seized the initiative in the Black Sea and forced back Russia's fleet.
"Russia sucks." ---- Me, US Army (retired) 12B & 51B
Russian Admiral said, after the Moskva sank, "we have the world's worst navy but we aren't as bad as our army".
Ukraine Says It Has Sunk a Russian Patrol Ship Near Crimea
By Reuters | March 5, 2024, at 1:32 a.m.
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian sea drones hit and sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday.
Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency said a special unit called Group 13 had fired Magura V5 maritime drones at the Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It said on the Telegram messaging app that the vessel had sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides, at an estimated cost of $65 million.
Right now this ship is on the seabed as a result of fire damage by unmanned boats," navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said in televised comments.
Andriy Yusov, a GUR spokesperson, said a helicopter had been on board the vessel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made no direct reference to the reported sinking of the vessel in his nightly video address.
But he said Ukraine had "proven what we are capable of, what our strength is capable of."
"That is shown by the number of downed Russian aircraft and the capabilities of our boys against the Russian fleet. There are no safe havens for Russian terrorists in the Black Sea and nor will there be."
And there would be, he said, "no safe space for them in the sky, given sufficient Ukrainian strength".
Reuters was unable to verify the reports. Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Some Russian military bloggers confirmed the account. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported attempts to tow the ship to port but said it eventually sank.
Ukraine has in recent months stepped up attacks in the Black Sea and on Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014. Kyiv has reported a series of strikes, including the sinking of a large landing ship by naval drones in mid-February.
Pletenchuk said the Sergey Kotov had also been hit in September 2023 and that a similar patrol vessel had been damaged in attacks since Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years ago.
"They have four similar ships, two of them are no longer in service," he said.
Reuters was unable to confirm the earlier strikes.
Train and highway traffic was temporarily stopped and later resumed on a bridge spanning the Kerch Strait and linking the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland, Moscow-installed officials in Crimea said.
Russia controls close to one-fifth of Ukraine's territory. Zelenskiy said in November Kyiv had seized the initiative in the Black Sea and forced back Russia's fleet.
Senior officers dismissed from the cuckraine army “for connections with ex-Commander-in-Chief #Zaluzhny” have gone over to the side of the Russian Armed Forces once their families were evacuated to Russia.
i've been saying China will attack russkie fir years. oil, natural gas, timber and rare earth metals are just sitting there waiting for China to take them. Taiwan s a pipe dream, russkies are not.
"Russia sucks." ---- Me, US Army (retired) 12B & 51B
Russian Admiral said, after the Moskva sank, "we have the world's worst navy but we aren't as bad as our army".
Russia is keeping their advanced T-14 tanks out of the Ukraine invasion due to fear of losses.
France 24, BBC
Most of the crap you post is just that, crap. But do you ever stop to ask yourself how they come up with this crap?
Do they have a spy inside the Kremlin? Did Russia put out a statement that they're scared of losing their t14s? Or did some idiot propagandist just decide that's why they're not using that equipment?
Considering what is the most likely of those scenarios, why do you uncritically lap up all the lies they keep feeding you? I know they can keep putting it out there, but that doesn't mean you have to fall for it.
Karolina Hird, Christina Harward, Kateryna Stepanenko, Grace Mappes, and George Barros
March 5, 2024
Ukraine destroyed the Project 22160 Sergei Kotov large patrol ship of the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) off the coast of the Kerch Strait on the night of March 4-5. Russian milbloggers responded to the sinking of the Sergei Kotov by decrying the Russian military command’s lack of response to the incident and mounting a wider critique against the bureaucratic inertia of the Russian military apparatus. Russian aircraft appear to be continuing to conduct a relatively high volume of glide bomb strikes in Ukraine despite Ukrainian officials’ reports that Ukrainian forces have downed several bomber aircraft in recent weeks. Russia and China are deepening their strategic space cooperation, including cooperation on satellite surveillance and space exploration. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two senior Russian commanders for their responsibility in perpetrating Russian war crimes – the first time the ICC has charged Russian military commanders. Russian forces are reportedly operating a “black market” to sell Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), including to Russian paramilitary groups that may be conducting their own POW exchanges with Ukraine. The director of the Moldovan Intelligence and Security Service, Alexandru Musteata, stated on March 5 that the Kremlin has begun to conduct multi-year hybrid operations aimed at destabilizing Moldova and preventing its accession to the EU. Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Donetsk City amid continued positional engagements along the entire line of contact on March 5. Russian authorities are reportedly disbanding elements of the former Wagner Group that were supposed to join Rosgvardia or are currently in Belarus. Russian law enforcement is likely intensifying crackdowns against Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea.
"Russia sucks." ---- Me, US Army (retired) 12B & 51B
Russian Admiral said, after the Moskva sank, "we have the world's worst navy but we aren't as bad as our army".
Senior officers dismissed from the cuckraine army “for connections with ex-Commander-in-Chief #Zaluzhny” have gone over to the side of the Russian Armed Forces once their families were evacuated to Russia.
Wow! Hadn't seen that.
Slaves get what they need. Free men get what they want.
Russia Now Suffering Highest Daily Casualties in Ukraine Yet, Says UK Defence Intelligence OLIVER JJ LANE 5 Mar 2024
While the war in Ukraine has become more static over the past year amid failed counter offences and the emergence of major minefields and trench networks, the butcher’s bill continues to mount, with the UK claiming average Russian casualties are approaching 1,000 men a day.
Data published by the British Ministry of Defence’s periodic Defence Intelligence digest claims the war in Ukraine continues to claim an ever higher number of Russian casualties incurred daily, on average, hits new levels. The new average daily loss by Russia estimated by the UK has now hit 983 per day killed and wounded, a considerable increase on the 172 a day experienced in the summer of 2022.
The British figures show that while the casualty figures have wavered in over two years of war, the strong overall trend has been upwards year on year. As noted by the digest, the steep increase “almost certainly reflects” Russia pursuing “mass and attritional warfare”, which the UK notes is costly to Russian life but also increases “pressure” on Ukraine, which is presumably less able to absorb mass casualties.
Based on its rolling aggregate of Russian casualties the United Kingdom estimates Russia has lost 355,000 men killed and wounded during its invasion of Ukraine so far. The number is comparable to Ukraine’s own numbers, which claims 416,00 “Russian invaders” killed and wounded. While there is a serious discrepancy between Ukraine’s claim and the British assessment, the gap is smaller there than in some other areas of the war where Ukraine states it has taken out twice as many Russian weapons as Western estimates suggest.
In armoured vehicles, for instance, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in February that Russia has now lost 3,000 tanks in the course of the war so far, and 8,800 armoured fighting vehicles. The Ukrainians, for their part, said they’d taken out 6,500 Russian tanks and 12,000 armoured vehicles.
Comparing Russia’s casualties, stated by the British Ministry of Defence, with Ukraine’s count of its own casualties is also difficult. While the country normally published no figures, President Volodymyr Zelensky made a rare statement on the second anniversary of the conflict starting by saying a figure of 300,000 given for his side alleged by the Kremlin is a “deceitful” lie and the true number was 31,000 killed.
In August last year, U.S. government sources cited in reports said the number of killed and wounded on both sides had reached half a million including 120,000 Russian dead and 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers dead. As observed, if true the Ukrainians have already sustained more dead than the U.S. in 20 years in Vietnam.
The duel between a T-72B3 and US-supplied armor occurred not far from Avdeevka, the Russian Defense Ministry has said
The Russian military has destroyed another M1 Abrams tank sent to Ukraine by the US in Russia’s Donbass, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said. It is the third vehicle of the type to be knocked out by Russia in recent days.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the Abrams had been taken out during a fight near the city of Avdeevka, which was recently liberated by Russian troops.
The tank “was knocked out in one shot by the crew of a T-72 B3,” officials said. They added that Kiev had also lost 460 service members, as well as another tank, four infantry fighting vehicles, two armored and five ordinary vehicles, and a Buk mobile air defense missile system in the area.
The Kremlin has now listed former Russian world champion chess player Garry Kasparov as “A terrorist and extremist” for his criticism of the Kremlin and the Ukraine invasion.
India’s oil firms and their refineries are now backing away from and out of agreements with long term Russian oil contracts due to increased sanctions recently imposed on Russia.
India has now turned to Saudi Arabia for the bulk of their oil imports.
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