Monday again?

Ukraine has drones called Baba Yaga drones, heavy attack weapons adapted from their original use as agriculture drones. The Newsweek article says Russian sources say they are operating at night and gong longer distances w/o Russian troops being able to hear them. 

Financial Times says Russia hasn’t pushed back Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region despite sending reinforcements. They are 30 km (20 miles) into Russia. 

Russia has evacuated over 120,000 people away from the fighting.

Ukraine launched drone and missile attacks on several Russian border regions.

I remember a fight in my Taekwon Do class where I was tired, too tired to maintain defense, so I went on offense. It was easier to attack than defend. I’m thinking Ukraine is finding it easier, now that it finally has some of the weaponry we promised and then delayed sending, to go on offense. Going on offense means the damage is happening in Russia not Ukraine. It means more soldiers being brought back to Russia and away from rape and murder campaigns in Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War said that Russia has transferred several units to the area in Russia, Kursk, that Ukraine is attacking. Russia is also bombing its own territory, diverting bombs that they would have used on Ukraine. Yes, they are bombing Ukraine in retaliation, but here is the thing with abusers. They would have done it anyway. You don’t keep abusers from hurting you by appeasing them. 

Ukraine has taken the Sudzha station, a gas metering station, in the Kursk oblast. An oblast is a administrative unit, like a province or state is an administrative unit. Sudzha station is the last transshipment point for Russian natural gas through Ukraine to Europe. It ships about half of Russia’s natural gas exports. 

Forbes said Ukraine has sent more troops in to Kursk.

One Ukrainian officer said a key advantage of the offense is they’ve captured a lot of Russian soldiers and officers to use for prisoner exchanges. Russia doesn’t care about its people so they have to have lots of soldiers and Russian people need to know they have lots of Russian soldiers to make any headway in negotiations. 

The Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine was able to waltz across the border because Russia just never imagined this. They built fortifications along the border but didn’t man them and now they will have to shift soldiers to the borders, which reduces the numbers inside Ukraine. 

There is a video of two elderly local women in Kursk speaking Ukrainian to Ukrainian soldiers. They are calm and asked for a ride but the vehicle was packed with military gear. They say “slava Ukraini” before they leave and one of the women says it back. 

The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers instructed government bodies to ensure solar power units were installed by the end of 2024, to be paid for with international technical and humanitarian assistance. Zelenskyy signed laws eliminating VAT and customs duties on imports of energy equipment. They also have a subsidized loan program offering 0% interest rates for solar panels and wind turbines to private households. 

Ukraine has had a lot of success in the Black Sea area so they are scrambling to ship as much grain as they can to take advantage of it. 

Germany has said that the weapons they gave Ukraine are the property of Ukraine and they can use them as they consider necessary and correct. Ukraine has a right to self-defense and this allows them to conduct military operations in the country of the aggressor.