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)

🔻The complexities of Popasnaya

▪️ The settlement is located in an elevated area with a whole network of natural water obstacles. This significantly slowed the pace of the offensive in the early days.

In eight years, the AFU has turned the city into a powerful fortification, surrounding it (especially along the southern outskirts) with a system of platoon and company level strongpoints, which are linked by communication passages. These communications allow for the covert transfer of personnel and armored vehicles to firing positions with the ability to move quickly for cover.

▪️ The Allied Forces are likely to eliminate the strongpoints, to which AFU units are currently trying to withdraw from the city, after the liberation of Popasnaya itself.

▪️ Most of the city is in the private sector, where Ukrainian servicemen have dug trenches and equipped dugouts in basements. Sweeping each house is time-consuming and difficult.

▪️ In the rare high-rise buildings, AFU units created positions for snipers and spotters.

▪️ There are still civilians in Popasnaya, which prevents the Allied Forces from making full use of aviation and artillery.

That is how it turns out that it will take more time to storm the twenty-thousand-strong town than to liberate the half-million-strong city of Mariupol.

However, this operation, too, is gradually nearing completion.

🔻At this point

▪️ The allied forces control the entire eastern part of the city, the Popasnaya-1 railway station, and the local administration building.

▪️ A few strongholds have been eliminated around the city.

▪️ The southwestern outskirts of the city are being cleaned up and preparations are being made for an offensive towards the Popasnya car-repair plant.

▪️ The Ukrainian Armed Forces are gradually realizing the pointlessness of further resistance and surrendering in small groups.

The result of the liberation of Popasnaya will not be long in coming, and the second phase of the special military operation will proceed at a different speed. (3/3)

An officer of the Ukrainian army was arrested by Russian authorities in Mariupol for raping a woman at gunpoint & murdering her husband, who tried to stop the rape. He has since confessed to the crime & explained it with the "suspected pro-Russian views" of the couple. https://news.1rj.ru/str/readovkanews/32467

Donetsk war reporter Dmitry Astrakhan sharing his thoughts on why Azov is being so stubborn in Mariupol:

Many are wondering why the Ukrainian military at the encircled Azovstal are still sitting and sabotaging any negotiations. What motivates their frantic requests? There are theories about the secrets they are hiding in the dungeons. There are theories about the help they are waiting for.

But I think it is a little more complicated than that. We have to understand who we're dealing with. These are people who have existed for years in an atmosphere of absolute impunity, one has only to utter the magic words "for the nation" and everything is possible. They were freed from police custody and courts as teenagers, they were traded out of captivity, they went through the "corridors" of Ilovaysk and the Airport. They were never held accountable for anything, neither criminal nor military. They were not even publicly condemned, on the contrary, they became heroes of Ukraine.

In the heads of those sitting at Azovstal, there is basically no sense that this is the end. That Ada Rogovtseva, Angelina Jolie, the Pope and their “brothers” will not come and drag them all out of there with banners raised, and straight to the award ceremony. Of course, they realize that any particular individual may not see this moment. But a general defeat, much less a trial of the survivors, is absolutely beyond their minds. So, they calmly hold the hostages and wait. From their point of view, everything must end as it always does. They simply do not believe that the end can come, it contradicts all their upbringing and life experience of the last 10 years.

8 years ago, on May 2nd 2014, Ukrainian radicals murdered at least 42 people in Odessa for the crime of being Russian. They burned them alive. They had tacit approval from the government; no one was punished. From that day on, it was clear that war had become inevitable. The War in Donbass had barely started; after May 2nd, 1000s of volunteers from Odessa & Russia joined the Militias. Ukrainian social networks were full of “funny” videos of people jumping to their deaths to escape the fire. Restaurants added "Vatnik shashlik" to their menus. Young girls poured the Molotov cocktails that lit the Trade Union House on fire; Ukrainian politicians joked about “the traditional May BBQ” for years; people who were involved in the massacre are now popular bloggers, pundits, advisors, military leaders.

A poem by Odessan poet Vadim Negaturov, who perished in the flames on May 2nd:

I am God's slave. And I am happy with this share.
I am valued at an unimaginable price.
It is not a brazen dollar paid for me,
Not a proud pound, nor a king's gold.

Not for a bucket of jewels,
Not for a chest of skins and furs,
Not for food I was redeemed from captivity
Of sickness and death and fear and sin.

I have been redeemed by the Holy Blood of Christ,
I have received Love instead of shackles.
I am called a slave... But I am not of the class
Of humiliated and cursed slaves.

In me the Creator hath found a son of his own,
Though I was sinful and spiritually weak.
And I am free forevermore.
Yet I am a slave... I am a willing slave!

I am God's slave, so I am free
From the circumstances of time and place.
I gladly wear the Lord's brand.
A simple Orthodox cross on my neck.

That cross is neither amulet nor emblem,
But it marks the stage of life,
That for the rest of my time
I am God's humble and willing servant.

British fighter Andrew Hill, currently in the custody of DPR forces, comes out with a message to other foreign fighters in Ukraine. https://news.1rj.ru/str/RtrDonetsk/5390

Go check out our interview with Clint Ehrlich over at IM—1776. It was an interesting format & Clint asked very smart questions.

Denoscription of the video:

"I don't usually post this kind of thing, in case anyone has noticed. Videos like this.
But this is an outrageous story, even by the standards of the current military situation.

Sent to me by officers who went through the Second Chechen War and whom I know personally.

Ukrainian soldiers were killed when our troops attacked. Their brothers-in-arms abandoned the bodies of the dead and left. Our guys went out to the enemy several times. They asked for the bodies to be removed so the soldiers could be given a proper burial. They promised a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor. No response.

A perfect picture of the state of affairs in the AFU.

In the end, the Russian military decided to remove the bodies of the AFU soldiers and bury them. The moment the truck arrived in the wooded area for the second time, Ukrainian artillery hit the area.

And the Russian soldiers took the bodies of the dead AFU soldiers to our rear to bury them in a mass grave under AFU fire. Because our guys remain human beings. Always. Unlike others.

What can I add? In Ukraine now another mobilization begins. The Ukrainian military and their relatives should think carefully about what is going on."