Russia's FSB security service has thwarted an attack on the Moscow-installed head of the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and arrested a suspect, Russian news agencies reported on Monday.

Former "Deputy ruZZian Prosecutor of Crimea" Andrey Fomin drowned while swimming in the Volga. July 1, 2023

Leopard 2A6 Novodanilovka

Yevgeny Prigozhin's business empire is rapidly being dismantled. It's lost its contract to provide (rotten, infected, adulterated) food to the Russian army, and his media empire is shutting down. Thousands of his staff have been made redundant, many with no severance pay.

Until Prigozhin's mutiny last month, his Concord Group was the Russian military's biggest food supplier. The Russian government paid it 845 billion rubles ($9.6 billion) under a contract with the Russian MOD's procurement arm, Voentorg. That has now been cancelled.

Concord also has the dubious title of being the MOD's most-sued contractor, with 560 lawsuits being filed in 2022 alone for supplying the Russian army with food contaminated with bacteria, insects and worms, and scams such as substituted ingredients.

Yevgeny Prigozhin is known as "Putin's chef" for his many contracts to supply the Russian government with catering and food. But last year the Russian Ministry of Defence sued him 560 times for supplying the Russian army with poor-quality, rotten and infected food

"Look out, news" (ON) reports that Concord's many holding companies have been "working intermittently since 23 June and have been waiting for inspections, destroying documents in the meantime by order of the management."

"It was expected that the entire document flow should have been handed over to the new owners by 15 July. But yesterday the employees were told that because of the breakdown of the contract between Voentorg and Concord they would be dismissed."

Concord's several thousand employees – who were engaged in feeding the military and supplying food to hospitals and to the occupied areas of Ukraine – have been dismissed with 'resignation letters', which are communicated strictly verbally, and no severance pay.

It's unclear what impact Concord's demise will have on military food logistics in occupied Ukraine. The situation is already reportedly very bad, with frontline troops complaining they lack food and water. It's unlikely that Concord's services can be replaced immediately.

The remains of a UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missile used by the Ukrainian Air Force to strike the Berdyansk airfield today. This particular missile didn't hit its target. If this was shot down by Russian air defense systems, it would be the first known example.

Why is the Ukrainian counteroffensive going exactly as planned and definitely not moving slowly, but rather moving better than many expected? However, the devil is in the details, which I intend to expose here, according to my humble opinion:
1. Before presenting my arguments, I would like to reiterate that I am a political consultant and by no means a military analyst. I am a layperson in the art of war, a simple and humble observer of the events in Ukraine, but I have read extensively about techniques, tactics, and military strategy because political strategy derives from them, which is practically one of the things I was involved in before the war in Ukraine. Also, before presenting my arguments, I want us to superficially delve into what is happening on the front in terms of offense and defense, as they are defined by theorists of modern warfare:
1.1 The type of Russian defense. A combination of static defense (such as fortifications like the Maginot Line in WW2) and in-depth defense, meaning dispersed defense in multiple layers (defense lines), such as the Surovikin Line.
1.2 The type of Ukrainian attack. A combination of methodical attack and breakthrough attack (or as it has materialized in the collective mindset, the term Blitzkrieg).

2. Please take into consideration that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) do not have air superiority or air supremacy. Therefore, the Western doctrine of attack, which relies on air supremacy, cannot be implemented in the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
2.1 At the same time, when considering the idea that "the counteroffensive is moving slowly," please compare it unintentionally with the Kharkiv counteroffensive in September 2022. I say unintentionally because in the field of communication sciences, this is called "shadow framing," which means what remains as residual memory and what we refer to every time we compare the unfolding of an event, the actions of a person, or the actions of the same person in situations that seem similar, but at a certain time interval between the two actions.

3. Therefore, "shadow framing" subconsciously dictates to you that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are not advancing quickly. No one would have known what "quick" means if they didn't have a benchmark to compare it to, and that benchmark is for many of those who have been following the war from the beginning, exactly what I mentioned above: the Kharkiv counteroffensive. However, what our own brain deceives us about is that it does not take into account several variables that have changed since then:
3.1 The Russian army did not have any kind of fortified defense line. At this moment, the Surovikin Line has up to 6 successive lines of defense in depth, some of which are fortified. So, the difference between Russian defense then and now is like the difference between hitting a wall at a speed of 80 km/h in a 1966 Lada or in a 2023 Premium SUV.
3.2 By having this time at their disposal, the Russians, by constructing the Surovikin Line, have put the Ukrainians in difficulty, which means they have to adapt their attack from what we saw almost daily in September 2022 as a breakthrough attack (Blitzkrieg) to a positional attack combined with limited breakthroughs. Why do they do this? To limit their losses and to not lose momentum.
3.3 In September 2022, by deceiving the Russians that the attack would be in Kherson, the Russians were forced to dislocate a large part of their troops to defend the only city that had both symbolic and strategic value: Kherson. The Ukrainians did this then to scatter their defense in Kharkiv, and they succeeded. Today, the Russians know clearly that the attack will be in the southern front, and moreover, they have detonated the Khakovka dam in a terrorist style to slow down the Ukrainians from attacking them from two flanks.
3.4 In September 2022, HIMARS was still a novelty for the Russians, and they did not yet have a response to it. The destruction caused by HIMARS to the logistics centers on the Kharkiv front, such as Velyki Burluk, Kupyansk, and Izium, was decisive for the collapse of the front altogether. Today, we have a completely different situation. It is true that now there is Shadow Storm, which works wonders, but the Russians have adapted. There are fewer large troop concentrations, the depots are smaller and dispersed (to make the use of Shadow Storms economically inefficient), and the logistics centers are also smaller and dispersed in multiple localities. -----
Thus, what we see today is NOT comparable in any way to the counteroffensive in Kharkiv, to which the majority (including Western Generals) of people refer when they say "the counteroffensive is moving slowly." If we start taking that into consideration, then let's see what we're looking at. The map that I have drawn here was done on May 5, almost 2 months ago. "1" on the map represents what I call the "Southern Kherson Island," delimited to the south by the entrance to Crimea, to the east by the border of Zaporizhia Oblast, and to the north and west by the Dnieper River. The plans for this part have been complicated by the terrorist attack by Russia at the Nova Khakovka dam. "2" on the map represents what I consider the main area that the Ukrainians want to conquer: the zone between Henichesk and Berdiansk. "3" on the map represents the line of attack that would lead towards Berdiansk and then (or perhaps even before) towards the liberation of Mariupol. I added the pink arrow because I said 2 months ago to pay attention in the direction of Bakhmut-Siversk-Kreminna. -----

4. Taking all these things into consideration, what is Ukraine doing now and why do I believe that this counteroffensive is moving at an absolutely admirable pace, even exceeding expectations in certain areas of the front? - The Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) are using a hybrid model of elastic attack: between breakthrough and positional attacks (using artillery to strike deep and diminish Russian forces). In the initial phase, they attack a point, practically using raid-style attacks (rapid, with high force density and a predetermined time and space limit) to force the Russians to counter with artillery fire - thus exposing their positions and prompting them to send infantry and mechanized infantry to confront the Ukrainians - in what would normally be called "offensive defense." When the Russians resort to these actions, abandoning their positions, the Ukrainians withdraw and utilize their artillery, IFVs, and tanks. The former is used to destroy Russian artillery batteries, where they still maintain numerical superiority, and the latter is employed to eliminate forces deployed for trench defense. This strategy is gradually thinning out the defense in the Surovikin Line, which is why we see increasing penetrations of the Russian defense on a daily basis, reaching greater depths. - The Battle for Bakhmut. Why is it important? Because, based on all the information I have from my sources in Ukraine, confirmed by Ukrainian and Western official sources, the Russians are still massing between 50,000 and 70,000 personnel in that direction. Why? Because Bakhmut is Putin's only victory, and he cannot afford to lose a locality that currently holds no strategic value (just as it did not have any before). Moreover, today Bakhmut is just a destroyed city, with no value for the Russian Federation, the sponsor state of terrorism. These tens of thousands of troops are thus fixed by the Ukrainians, who have meanwhile taken the initiative, entered Bakhmut (as I wrote a few days ago, now confirmed even by Russian sources), and gained ground both to the north and south of it, forcing the Russians to remain fixated there. Despite the lower number of artillery batteries, lower ammunition supplies, and the natural disadvantage of being on the offensive, despite the fact that Ukraine's air force is almost non-existent compared to Russia's, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) have made progress today on all four axes in the south (Kherson, Vasylivka, Orekhiv-Tokmak, Velyka Novosilka-Berdiansk), but especially in the Bakhmut area, where they have crossed the Siversky Donets canal, are close to encircling Klischiivka, are already attacking Kumydivka and Andriivka to the south, and have territorial gains in the north. Once again, read the last part: despite all the shortcomings mentioned above, the AFU is advancing at a rate that I honestly, as someone who closely follows the course of the war, did not expect! -----

5. Then why did Zelensky say that he will show (speaking in the future tense) that this counteroffensive will prove to go well until the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11, and why did General Mark Milley say, "the counteroffensive is going well, but at a slower pace than expected"? - Zelensky made a concise political statement because he doesn't have the ability to write thousands of words like I am doing here now. And... - With all due respect to General Mark Milley, he was the one who stated that "in the event of an invasion, Kyiv will fall within 72 hours" (he made this statement on February 5). So, allow me to disagree with him this time. Conclusion: We are not in Hollywood; we are talking about a real war, with people dying every day, with advancements by the AFU, and perhaps most importantly, without the AFU engaging with what I call "The Nine" Brigades - the ones specially prepared for this counteroffensive! I have confidence in the Ukrainian Command because they haven't disappointed me so far, and I am absolutely sure - even though it may sound optimistic, I am used to being criticized for it - that Ukraine will reach the Sea of Azov by the end of this autumn, leading to the liberation of vast territories in the south. I trust the Ukrainian Armed Forces! I will reiterate, for those who may not know yet, my appeal for retweets, comments, or likes, even if they may not be pleasing, in order to reach as many people as possible with this information. Because we are also in an information war, and we are the ones fighting on it. It is up to us to win on this front, just as Ukraine will prevail on its territory! Glory to Ukraine!

https://twitter.com/pati_marins64/st...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

It appears that The time windows for an attrition war against Russia was missed.

Months ago, I wrote about the three biggest Russian factories idling their production due to a shortage of electronics.

(twitter.com/pati_marins64/…)

Now, the situation is just the opposite. The three biggest Russian factories, Uralvagonzavod, Omsktransmash and Kurganmashzavod, are producing intensely, and that's not all. Uraltransmash and the Armored Repair Plants, consisting of eight units, are working at least 12 hours a day, but not yet in "war mode."
For example, Kurganmashzavod had around 1,700 workers but hired another 1,000 last year and another 1,200 recently.

During the last few months, the Russian industry has delivered dozens of helicopters and jets to African countries like Mali, Uganda, Togo, and Zimbabwe. This suggests that any shortage of electronics is in the past.

Recently, Uralvagonzavod set 100% of its production exclusively for tanks, while Omsktransmash isn't producing tanks anymore and has instead shifted its focus to the Tos-1 and the modernization of T80s and T62Ms, as well as some artillery, including the D30, 2s4, and 2s5.

Kurganmashzavod is working intensely on IFVs like the BMP3M, and at least five repair armored plants are refurbishing other IFVs and APCs. Uraltransmash is producing Akatsiya, Malka, and Msta S artillery and has already delivered two batches of Msta S this year.

The number of missiles launched against Kiev is another example of the kick in production for the Russian aerospace industry.

All evidence suggests that the Russian military complex can produce/refurbish many hundreds of tanks and probably thousands of IFVs, APCs, and artilleries annually.

We must consider 14 units producing (not including the units working in indirect production like the "techzavods").

The war is on the way where the US will hold the front, or the allies have to start negotiating with Russia. If Russia keeps up this rate, it will easily overcome the EU donations for Ukraine and seriously threaten the EU's capacity to keep supplying Ukraine. This situation just exposes an old criticism, where the allies didn't invest in facilities for Ukrainian companies to keep producing, refurbishing and repairing outside the country. Ukraine had an excellent military complex that suffered the war's consequences and didn't receive any restructuring program funds from the allies. From other hands, the Ukr decided to buy $800 millions in weapons never delivered. Another mistake.

*Adding as note, Ukraine just got something like 60% of what was announced for the offensive.

The Ukrainian army improved considerably since the begin of the offensive, but the scarcity of SHORADS and heavy armored vehicles are a serious issue for this kind of offensive, nor mentioning the lack of Air support.

I'd like to hear where are the perspectives for the Ukrainian offensive. With the current equipment I don't see any perspectives, except if US take a step forward and send many hundreds of Bradleys and Abrams. It would be able to balance the war again. The number of Storm shadows is insufficient to cause worries for RuAF.

Bellow are recent pictures and videos of the mentioned factories, while the deliveries you can search on Google.….

Seemingly a well informed young "lady" from Brazil. Or just a clever not over-aggressive Russian troll? I don't know, but I have my reservations. Do you know her better ORAC?

https://twitter.com/maks_nafo_fella/...HhlFHGKbTPQr_A

"More than 120,000 Russian invaders are concentrated in the Kupyansk-Lyman direction, and about 50,000 in the Bakhmut area," Serhii Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.