🇷🇺❌🇺🇦🏭 — 🏴 ZeroHedge | Russia Poised To Cripple Ukraine Steel Industry By Seizing Vital Coal Mine | October 19, 2024:

"In what promises to be a major milestone in more than two-and-a-half years of war, Russia is closing in on the capture of a vital industrial asset: a Ukrainian coal mine that's a cornerstone of the country's steel industry.

Owned by Ukrainian firm Metinvest, the modern facility -- opened in 1990 -- is Ukraine's largest mine for producing coking-coal, a specific grade used to fuel blast furnaces. It's near the village of Udachne, about 10 kilometers west of the city of Pokvrosk, which is itself a key supply hub in Ukraine's Donetsk oblast. Per the latest reports, the Russian army is reportedly just 8 to 12 kilometers east of Pokrovsk. Defensive lines have already been dug to Pokrovsk's west, so Ukrainian units will have positions to drop back to if Pokrovsk falls."

🗄 Archive

🔗 Source

🇷🇺❌🇺🇦🏭 — 🇬🇧 The Economist | Why Russia is trying to seize a vital Ukrainian coal mine | Without it, the country’s remaining steel industry will be crippled | October 13, 2024:

"(...)

Pokrovsk’s mine is far from being a rickety old Soviet relic. It opened in 1990 and now belongs to Metinvest, a company owned by Rinat Akhmetov, one of Ukraine’s richest men. Metinvest also owned the two Mariupol steel plants, and one of the largest coking-coal production plants in Europe which was in Avdiivka, and which was destroyed last year. Now he faces the loss of this mine too.

(...)

Along with its associated plants and administration buildings, the Pokrovsk mine group employs 6,000 people, of whom some 1,000 are currently serving in the armed forces. It is the largest coking-coal mine in Ukraine. Its coal, used for smelting iron ore, is vital for the country’s remaining steel industry. This year Metinvest hoped to mine 5.3m tonnes of coal there. In 2023 Ukraine’s steel plants produced 6.2m tonnes of crude steel. In 2021 though, before the loss of the two Mariupol plants, Ukraine had produced 21.4m tonnes. In 2021 Ukraine was the world’s 14th largest steel producer but last year it had tumbled to 24th.

According to Andriy Buzarov, an analyst, the Russians do not even need to take the mine to throttle Ukraine’s remaining steel industry. As they advance, they will try to cut its power supply and shell the main road that takes its coal west to the remaining steel plants. They will then do the same at another smaller coking-coal mine 18km north of Udachne at Dobropillia, he thinks."

🗄 Archive

🔗 Source:

🇺🇸📰🤫🌐🌐 — 🏴 ZeroHedge | The US Plans To Let BRICS Fail In A Geopolitically Explosive Environment | Authored by Peter Hanseler via VoiceFromRussia.ch | October 17, 2024:

"(...)

For China and Russia, which play a leading role in BRICS – Russia currently holds the chair – the following questions arise: Should BRICS accept few, no or many new members? Candidates are lining up, but some are under enormous pressure from the US to avoid joining BRICS. Should a new payment mechanism independent of the US dollar be introduced now, further upsetting the balance in already unstable financial markets? Such decisions, or even the mere communication of them, have the potential to significantly alter the entire geopolitical situation within hours – positively or negatively, depending on the observer’s point of view."

#Geoeconomics

🗄 Archive

🔗 Full:

#BREAKING

🥇📈🚀GOLD spot reach again a new All Time High over $2740/oz!

@FelipeChannel

🇮🇱☢️🇮🇷 Leaked US Intel Confirms Israeli Nuclear Weapons

"We have not observed indications that Israel intends to use a nuclear weapon." That sentence is the concluding line from an allegedly leaked (or hacked) U.S. intelligence document posted online this week and later reported on by Axios, CNN, and other outlets.

The Associated Press and independent investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein both cited government sources who said the documents appeared to be authentic. While U.S. officials have yet to comment publicly on the material, reporting confirmed an investigation into their authenticity and how they came to be in the public domain was underway.

Assuming the documents are authentic, what they show is that U.S. intelligence—as is well known and despite being close allies—keeps a close and clandestine eye on Israeli military operations.

CNN cited an unnamed U.S. official who called the documents being made public "deeply concerning," though the outlet did not publish the documents in full. The documents, according to CNN,

🔸 are marked top secret and have markings indicating they are meant to be seen only by the US and its "Five Eyes" allies — Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

🔸 They describe preparations Israel appears to be making for a strike against Iran. One of the documents, which says it was compiled by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, says the plans involve Israel moving munitions around.

🔸 Another document says it is sourced to the National Security Agency and outlines Israeli air force exercises involving air-to-surface missiles, also believed to be in preparation for a strike on Iran. CNN is not quoting directly from or showing the documents.

It has long been known that Israel has a nuclear weapons program and maintains a nuclear arsenal, but it remains both Israeli and U.S. government policy never to acknowledge or confirm the existence of either. In one of the documents, the U.S. specifically references Israel's ability to deploy a nuclear weapon, though it categorizes the threat of doing so in this case as low.

🔗 https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/leaked-us-intel-confirms-israeli-nuclear-weapons

🏴🇲🇽❌🇲🇽 — Leader of “Chapiza” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) Ivan Archivaldo Guzmán has reached an agreement with El Mencho leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

➡️ Ivan Archivaldo came to the agreement to unite forces with El Mencho in exchange of Human Resources, combat equipment and financial assets.

➡️ This agreement came about after rising tensions and combat between el Mayo’s Zambadas son “El Mayito Flaco” or MF for short and La Chapiza, the meeting took place in the town of Pachecos, Nayarit.

➡️ It is important to note that the CJNG and Guzman family are the most militarized forces in Mexico with a criminal annual GDP surpassing that of some countries and it could result in further pressure by the US Government for American intervention in Mexico.

➡️ CJNG has gained notoriety in recent years due to their highly militarized and well equipped and advanced forces composed of many former Special Forces from the US and other countries while the Chapitos have gained notoriety due to the Battle of Culiacán which took place when Ovidio Guzman was captured and set free by their sicarios due to the Mexican armed forces being overpowered back in 2019.

🇨🇳 China has an automated cruise missile factory that can produce over 1000 missiles a day working in 3 shifts according to CCTV Chinese media.

China's large military industrial capacity is likely to sustain a war effort for much longer than its adversaries.

📝: It's 1000 cruise missile "components" not completed missiles, but that doesn't really say where the choke point is, there could be other factories limited to churning 500 X components, or there could be multiple factories making 5000 X components.

My personal assessment is it's more credible than not, because this is close to the smash to win button for 1st island chain, i.e. anything within 1500km. PRC is good at value engineering, these missiles don't have to be high reliability ordnances. This isn't US who has to spend billions in logistics just to hoof weapons into theatre, so need to engineer for low dud rates. I wouldn't be surprised if these are like low 6 digit cheap or less when produced at scale involved, maybe even 5 digit vs inputs/components compared to EVs, and there's no reason not to start hammering them out instead of letting machines sit idle and depreciate unproductively.

If a few weeks days of production basically trivially saturates any missile defense in 1st island chain, another week can lock down airfields, ports, continuously degrade infra, then why would PRC not? It makes so much sense. Unlike planes and ships, intelligence/OSINT can't count from satellite, 100,000s missiles can go straight from assembling plant to storage to obfuscate build up. Load it into a cheap launcher system that can be slapped onto any light/medium vehicle for dispersal.

🔗 Indo Pacific News