The House of Representatives goes on another vacation on March 22, so if congressmen/women don’t pass legislation we will be without guns and ammo in April, and probably May and June.
ISW says in their latest Russian invasion campaign brief that invaders could break through lines of defense in eastern and southern Ukraine any day now. That would lead to entirely avoidable loss of life, property damage, more occupied areas, et cetera.
European leaders are talking about sending troops to Ukraine, but it’s unclear what soldiers from European countries would actually do if they arrived. There is no reason for them to come to Kyiv.
War is costly. Team Russia blew up two PATRIOT M901 launchers the other day near Pokrovsk in Donetsk region.
Official PATRIOT system cost figures are not publicly available. According to a December 16, 2022 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) article, “Patriot to Ukraine: What Does it Mean?” a newly produced PATRIOT battery costs about $1.1 billion, including about $400 million for the system and about $690 million for the missiles.
Putin launched a genocidal campaign against Ukraine in early 2022, and is directly responsible for the deaths of at least 500,000 people, mostly Russian soldiers. He wants Russians to vote (for him) in the 2024 presidential election, which kicks off on March 15 and ends March 17 (Sunday).
Telegram channels are circulating ominous video clips of men putting the final touches on homemade bombs they plan on detonating (in Russia) to mark the event.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions north of Ukraine freedom fighters are shooting up ammo depots in small towns and villages.
“The liberation of Russian regions from Putin’s terrorist regime continues at these moments. Now massive strikes are being launched against Putin’s troops in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.
We call on the authorized persons of these regions, first of all, the Governor of the Kursk Region Roman Starovoit and the Governor of the Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov, to immediately announce an evacuation from the entire territory of the above-mentioned regions and to evacuate civilians without delay.
Civilians should not suffer from the war, and any casualties during the fighting will be on the conscience of Starovoit and Gladkov.
We demand that governors stop carrying out the criminal orders of the Putin junta and not interfere with the evacuation of civilians from the combat zone, who themselves have already decided to leave their homes and save the lives of their families.
The operation to liberate the Kursk and Belgorod regions will continue until all goals are achieved.
Victory will be ours!" - official statement
The pope would not approve.
There have been a couple of air raid warnings in Kyiv this morning (ballistic missiles), but no incoming missiles. That might change. As of this writing, the map looks like this.
In other news, I have decided to get a haircut, against my better judgement.
I had been toying with the idea of growing it down to my ass and binding it together in beautiful thick, rope-like arrangements. Then I woke up.
Another air alert!
This alert, the 1,005th since February 24, 2022, warns of incoming ballistic missiles and Dagger (Kinzhal) missiles dropped by Mig fighter jets.