Right now, Russian strikes against Nikolayev, Kharkov & Gulaypole are being reported, as well as heavy shelling across the whole Donbass contact line. This may be the beginning of the Battle for Donbass. The Ukrainian government seems convinced of this.

This footage was posted with the denoscription: "Objective control of action from a range of ~1200-1500 & a height of 175 meters of our BMP-3, which fired its 100mm gun at firing points of the regiment "Azov", which in turn fired at our advancing forces in the industrial zone at Azovstal."

"Reverse Side of the Medal" is a Telegram channel tied to the Youtube project "GREY ZONE", a channel about modern warfare & private military contractors. Several members associated with the project are currently members of the Russian Armed Forces (& aforementioned PMCs). https://news.1rj.ru/str/rsotmdivision/24

Russian Special forces eliminate Ukrainian Military patrol

List of US citizens who are now banned from entering Russia in perpetuity for "creating a russophobic agenda"

Russian Military takes control of thousands of tons of Ukraine’s arsenal supplied by the west (previous report, now footage)

The Russian Ministry of Defense on the situation in Mariupol:

The situation in Mariupol has normalized. Residents of the city have been able to move freely through the streets without hiding from Ukrainian Nazi shelling. Humanitarian aid is being delivered: food, water and basic necessities. The authorities of the Donetsk People's Republic are organizing the clearing of streets from rubble and the removal of damaged Ukrainian military equipment.

All the remnants of the Ukrainian Azov Nazis, together with foreign mercenaries from the USA and European countries, are securely blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant. Our demands to release women and children allegedly staying with them for free departure in any direction are ignored by the Nazis. The order of exit of civilians, if they are indeed there, from the territory of Azovstal for further evacuation is reported to the Nazis on an hourly basis. This information is also communicated to representatives of the Kiev regime through Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk.

The retention by the Azov Nazis and foreign mercenaries of civilian hostages, if there are any, proves that they are not "defenders" but utter terrorists.

In connection to this, the US State Department speaker's attempts to lie about the Nazi rabble's alleged retention of control over Mariupol are fake and direct aiding and abetting terrorists at the highest level of government. The State Department is habitually misinforming its own citizens and everyone else. Ukraine itself, its inhabitants in Mariupol and other cities, are of interest to Washington only in the profits from arms supplies and the fight against Russia at least "to the last Ukrainian", as Washington and all its satellites repeat with the help of the State Department.

The Guardian reports that many if not most of the dead civilians in Bucha were killed by artillery. The Guardian also seems to reach a specific conclusion without asking the question "who exactly was firing artillery at Bucha while it was under Russian control?".

The Ukrainian military widely used those same flechette rounds in the Donbass War, by the way. https://news.1rj.ru/str/boris_rozhin/44874

New episode!

In which we return to peacetime topics, namely the last “Great Russian Writer” — Mikhail Bulgakov. His personal life, his œuvre, his relationship with the Soviets, his beliefs & much more. Among other topics, we talk about the relevance of his novel “White Guard” to current events, what he really wanted to say in “The Master & Margarita”, why the “Heart of a Dog” movie adaptation was so good & how his wives shaped his life. The episode is, as always, available on both Patreon & Gumroad.

A destroyed Ukrainian strongpoint in Nikolayev oblast https://news.1rj.ru/str/SergeyKolyasnikov/32420

A list of members of the Ukrainian "International Legion" has allegedly been leaked. Can't speak for its authenticity, but we'll look into it. https://news.1rj.ru/str/rybar/31882

Another Brit captured by Russian forces, this time in Nikolayev oblast. https://news.1rj.ru/str/zvezdanews/78323

The Izyum direction today:

A = shot down UKR drones reported
B = shot down UKR Tochka-U missiles
C = missile strike against UKR ammunition depot
D = missile strike against a UKR Buk-M1 anti-air system
E = unconfirmed reports of UKR National Guard & AFU units being encircled

New FREE episode: Serbian journalist & documentary filmmaker Miodrag Zarkovic @MiodragZarkovic , the only Serbian reporter in Donbass, joined our show to discuss some Russian-Serbian history, the current relationship between our peoples & the state of the world. Listen now on Patreon, Gumroad or the podcast app of your choice via Anchor.

Russian OSINT channel Rybar on the difficulties of the "Second Phase" & the Battle for Popasnaya:

Difficulties of the second phase of a special military operation

Quite often we encounter ordinary people's misunderstanding of what is happening on the frontlines. In some ways this is the fault of television experts, who for eight years have been spreading hurrah-patriotism about "worthless Ukrainians”. In some ways it is the banal lack of understanding of the specifics of military operations in the region.

In the Kharkov and Lugansk oblasts, the relatively slow pace of advance of the Allied Forces [Armed Forces of Russia + Donetsk/Lugansk People’s Militias – RWA] persists. In the south, in Donetsk and Zaporozhye oblasts, progress is almost imperceptible.

Therefore, some may have the mistaken impression that the second phase of the SSO declared by the Russian military command has stalled.

But this is not true. (1/3)

The main task of the second phase involves establishing full control over Donbass. And there are several factors to consider here:

▪️ The Donbass group of the AFU consists of the most trained and motivated units, including those redeployed from Western Ukraine.

▪️ The enemy has had eight years to think through and implement a deeply echeloned defense along the entire line of contact with LPR and DPR forces.

▪️ The Ukrainian side deliberately does not evacuate the population from the combat zone, using civilians as human shields. Evacuations are only carried out when military personnel are mixed with civilians in evacuation convoys.

All this undoubtedly complicates the main task of the second phase of the Special Military Operation, but does not make it impossible.

The Allied Forces are currently making active attempts to breach the AFU defenses in several places at once:

▪️ Slow but steady progress is being made in the Izyum direction.

▪️ The Allied forces have completed an operational encirclement of Liman: the entire area is under Russian fire control.

▪️ Battles continue for Rubezhnoye, where the enemy defenses are gradually being ground down.

▪️ The LPR People's Militia eliminated a powerful fortification in Novotoshkovskoye and advanced toward Orekhovo.

▪️ The assault on Popasnaya continues: regular troops, "Kadyrovites" and "Wagner" have been slowly taking the city for a month and a half now.

Popasnaya has been called almost the Stalingrad of the current special operation. Although the comparison is overflowing with pathos, it is nevertheless correct. Yes, there was a successful operation to liberate Mariupol.

But if we compare the scale of forces and means involved, as well as the prospects for the operation, then Popasnaya is one of the critical points for the success of the second phase of the Special Military Operation.

🔻 What control of Popasnaya accomplishes

▪️ The ability to continue the offensive on multiple fronts simultaneously;

▪️ access to a major transport hub - the town of Bakhmut, the occupation of which will disrupt the supply of some of the AFU units;

▪️ the possibility of creating several cauldrons and cutting off the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk group from the rest of the AFU forces in the Donbass.

Realizing these prospects, the AFU command moved some units from the agglomeration of Rubezhnoye - Severodonetsk - Lisichansk to Popasnaya. This made it possible to partially compensate for the losses incurred by the 24th Lvov Mechanized Brigade.

Although the Allied Forces already control most of the city, the assault on Popasnaya remains one of the most difficult operations for several reasons. (2/3)