*** MILITARY SITUATION ***
-Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for SMO (21072022)
According to the updated data, as a result of the strike on July 16 with high-precision weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces on the temporary deployment point of nationalists in the recreation center "Empire" in the village of Konstantinovka, Odessa region, more than 600 militants were eliminated. Including up to 120 foreign mercenaries. In addition, according to updated data, as a result of a high-precision strike on July 17 at the temporary deployment point of the AFU unit on the territory of a vegetable base in the city of Nikolaev, more than 320 nationalists were destroyed.
Against the background of significant losses in the east of Ukraine, the residents of the western regions mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine refuse to go to the Donbass. Thus, the servicemen of the 100th Territorial Defense Brigade in the city of Lutsk, Volyn region, in full refused to participate in hostilities. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has disarmed the brigade, the instigators have been arrested, and a decision has been made to re-form this compound.
The strikes by operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery against military facilities on the territory of Ukraine continue. During the day, nine control points were hit, including the 59th Marine Brigade in Nikolaev, where foreign mercenaries were stationed, as well as the 14th mechanized brigade in the Artemovsk area and the SBU headquarters in the city of Kramatorsk. Six warehouses with rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition were destroyed in the areas of the settlements of Konstantinovka, Fedorovka of the Donetsk People's Republic, Maliyevka of the Dnipropetrovsk region and the city of Nikolaev.
As part of the counter-battery fight, the following were hit: a battery of multiple launch rocket systems "Hurricane" and a battery of self-propelled artillery howitzers "Acacia" with a counter-battery radar station near the village of Zarozhnoye, Kharkiv region; eight Ukrainian platoons of multiple launch rocket systems "Grad" in the districts of Zvanovka, Kirovo, Soledar, Krasnoe, Platonovka of the Donetsk People's Republic, Dobropolye of the Zaporozhye region and Shirokoe of the Mykolaiv region; nine artillery platoons of D-20 howitzers and seven artillery platoons of D-30 guns in the areas of the settlements of Seversk, Kirovo, Novomikhailovka, Konstantinovka, Kleshcheyevka, Georgievka of the Donetsk People's Republic, Novopavlovka, Veseloye of the Zaporozhye region, as well as Dobroye of the Mykolaiv region.
1 Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down by the fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the Kramatorsk area of the Donetsk People's Republic.
In addition, Russian air defense means shot down a Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Forces in the Pervomaiske area of the Mykolaiv region, as well as five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the areas of the settlements of Topolskoye, Dementievka, Peschanoye of the Kharkiv region, Yenakiyevo and Makeyevka of the Donetsk People's Republic. Eight shells of the Hurricane multiple launch rocket system were intercepted in the areas of Chernobayevka, Cossack Camps of the Kherson region and Kamenka of the Kharkiv region.
-ASPEN, Colorado, July 21 (Aspen Security Forum)
Russia’s military is likely to start an operational pause of some kind in Ukraine in the coming weeks, giving Kyiv a key opportunity to strike back, Britain’s spy chief said on Thursday. Richard Moore, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) known as MI6, also estimated that about 15,000 Russian troops had been killed so far in its war in Ukraine, adding that was “probably a conservative estimate.“I think they’re about to run out of steam,” Moore said, addressing the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, adding that the Russian military would increasingly find it difficult to supply manpower and materiel over the next few weeks. “They will have to pause in some way, and that will give the Ukrainians opportunities to strike back.”
The United States estimates that Russian casualties in Ukraine so far have reached around 15,000 killed and perhaps 45,000 wounded, CIA Director William Burns said on Wednesday, adding that Ukraine has also endured significant casualties. Nearly five months since President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Russia's neighbor, its forces are grinding through the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and occupy around a fifth of the country. Burns, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said those gains have come at great cost. In short - it seems that MSM outlets agree that perhaps it's unwise to send unchecked billions in weapons and aid to a notoriously corrupt nation whose president, Volodomyr Zelensky, just fired their equivalent of their CIA director and Attorney General while accusing them of treason.
*** ECONOMIC & POLITICAL ***
-Liz Truss is coming. 60/40 she becomes the new UK PM.
-Senior U.S. officials acknowledged Wednesday that the United States and its allies are considering whether to provide Ukraine with new fighter jets and the training needed to operate them, a move that would dramatically expand Western involvement in the war with Russia. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, said that although he would not speculate what type of aircraft might be transferred, discussions are ongoing about how to reinforce Ukraine’s fleet, including with new planes. The Ukrainian air force has been outgunned by Russia since the invasion began Feb. 24, sparingly flying an assortment of MiG jets and other Cold War-era planes. Brown said there are several possibilities, including American-made fighters or some made in Europe. Options include the Gripen fighter made in Sweden, the Rafale made in France, and the Eurofighter Typhoon, which is built by a consortium of companies in several countries.
-In China - CCP tanks on the street protecting Banks in Rizhao, Shandong Province. The Henan branch of the Bank of China declaring that people's savings in their branch are now 'investment products' and can't be withdrawn, sparking large anti-bank protests.
-A popular Russian media outlet 'Arguments of the Week' published this today:
Армия России регулярно наносит удары по целям на Украине квазибаллистическими, аэробаллистическими или крылатыми ракетами оперативно-тактической, средней и большой дальностей морского, наземного и воздушного базирования. Противник всё ждёт, когда они закончатся, но этого не произойдёт никогда – промышленность уже вышла на такие обороты, что покрыла массовый расход ракет и различных корректируемых боеприпасов первых дней СВО. Сейчас их производство превышает ежесуточное расходование. То есть арсеналы этого оружия, наоборот, растут.
Translation: The Russian army regularly strikes targets in Ukraine with quasi-ballistic, aeroballistic or cruise missiles of operational-tactical, medium and long range, sea, land and air based. The enemy is still waiting for them to run out, but this will never happen - the industry has already reached such a rate of production that it covered the mass consumption of missiles and various guided munitions since the first days of the SMO. Now their production exceeds the daily consumption. That is, the stocks of these weapons, on the contrary, are growing.
-The UK will send Ukraine anti-tank weapons, drones, artillery guns and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament on Thursday. Ukraine will receive more than 20 M109 and 26 L119 artillery guns, as well as counter-battery radar systems and more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition for its existing Soviet-era artillery systems. The UK will also send 1,600 anti-tank weapons as well as drones, including hundreds of “loitering aerial munitions,” more commonly known as “suicide drones.” The arms will be sent to Ukraine in the coming weeks, and Wallace’s announcement comes several weeks after outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged an additional £1 billion ($1.2bn) in military support to Vladimir Zelensky’s government. In total, the UK has spent £2.3 billion on weapons and training for Kiev’s military since Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began in February. This money has already paid for nearly 7,000 NLAW, Javelin and other anti-tank missiles, 16,000 artillery rounds, six mobile anti-air missile launchers, as well as a number of M270 rocket artillery systems and 120 armored vehicles.
-In a call earlier this week, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Russia as “a state sponsor of terrorism,” Politico wrote on Wednesday, citing two sources familiar with the conversation. Pelosi reportedly warned America’s top diplomat that if he did not go through with the designation, Congress would do it instead. While Congress has given the State Department the exclusive authority to label other countries as state sponsors of terrorism, some lawmakers argue that a bill could be passed to get around this restriction, the paper noted.
-Italy is facing a general election after President Sergio Mattarella dissolved parliament on Thursday. Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned hours earlier, after three of his coalition partners boycotted a confidence vote. Mattarella did not set a date for elections, but said that a vote must take place within 70 days, as per Italy’s constitution. His decision to dissolve parliament came after an attempt last week to keep Draghi in power. Draghi, who formerly led the European Central Bank, announced his resignation last Thursday after his largest coalition partners in the populist Five Star Movement withdrew their support from him, but Mattarella rejected his bid to quit.
-Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) was attacked by a man with a blade on Thursday evening during a campaign stop in Fairport, NY, near Rochester, WROC reports. Zeldin, the NY Republican gubernatorial candidate, was giving a speech about bail reform when a man walked on stage, began yelling, "wrestled with him a bit, and pulled a blade out," before AMVETS national Director Joe Chenelly stopped him. According to a statement from Zeldin's campaign, "a man climbed on stage and attempted to stab Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY) ... Congressman Zeldin grabbed the attacker's wrist to stop him until several others assisted in taking the attacker down to the ground."
-Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. has likely advanced its production technology by two generations, defying US sanctions intended to halt the rise of China’s largest chipmaker. The Shanghai-based manufacturer is shipping Bitcoin-mining semiconductors built using 7-nanometer technology, industry watchers TechInsights wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. That’s well ahead of SMIC’s established 14nm technology, a measure of fabrication complexity in which narrower transistor widths help produce faster and more efficient chips. Since late 2020, the US has barred the unlicensed sale to the Chinese firm of equipment that can be used to fabricate semiconductors of 10nm and beyond, infuriating Beijing. SMIC’s surprising progress raises questions about how effective the export control mechanism has been and whether Washington can indeed thwart China’s ambition to foster a world-class chip industry at home and reduce reliance on foreign technologies.
-The governments of Spain, Greece and Portugal have all stated that they oppose an EU scheme that would see them slash their natural gas consumption by 15% over the winter. Announced by the European Commission on Wednesday, the ‘Save Gas for a Safe Winter’ proposal would entail EU member states reducing their gas use by switching to other power sources and ordering their citizens to ration their own usage. If the commission’s proposal is adopted, member states would be required to report on their progress toward the 15% target every two months, and EU authorities would have the power to declare a state of emergency and make the reduction mandatory.
-Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the oil market and OPEC+. The two parties also made a note of the importance of collaboration within OPEC+, adding that OPEC+ members have consistently fulfilled their obligations to maintain market balance and stability in the energy markets. OPEC+ has consistently failed to meet its production targets over the duration of the deal. In June, OPEC+--a group that includes both Russia and Saudi Arabia—increased its oil production by 390,000 bpd, but most members failed to meet their production targets. OPEC’s share of the increase for June was 210,000 bpd, while non-OPEC members part of the OPEC+ group increased production by 180,000 bpd, according to a recent Platts survey. Overall, this was still more than 2.5 million bpd under the quota for the full OPEC+ group. Russia and Saudi Arabia—the two largest producers within OPEC+--saw the biggest production gains in June. While the group has fallen short of production targets, OPEC continues to insist that the market is in balance. Saudi Arabia has long maintained that it can do nothing beyond what it is already doing to help the oil market, and that the market is far more complex than merely pumping additional barrels of oil.
-The term military mobilisation means many things to many people. To the average person, the average journalist, even the partisan buffoon military commentators on MSM nightly news all understand it differently, that is in a much more prosaic, everyday sense. Variously meaning:
* Bringing more troops into the armed forces via immediate compulsory conscription; or
* Bringing more troops into the present battle from the inactive enlisted soldiers and reservists; or
* Bringing lots of troops from one frontline theatre to some other.
Military mobilisation can rightly mean all of these things. There is a reason why so many commentators fail to understand why Russia doesn't just throw it's (reputed) 900,000 soldiers at Ukraine to get the job done quicker. They think Shoigu can just pick up the phone and call "Give me another 200k guys for the Donbass". Can't happen. Unlike Zelensky who just tells his SBU "Grab every man with 2 legs and put him in camos and send him to where our numbers are low". That is Kiev's version of mobilisation!
But the fact is that the RF Duma has only legally approved a certain ceiling on active troop numbers to realistically achieve the voted, stated goals for the present SMO. That's why Russia is not calling it a war. It is only partial mobilisation of their armed forces. To send more troops to Ukraine (above the initial 150-200k first amased at its western borders in Dec 2021) would take much parliamentary debate. True, it may yet happen. But since Feb 24th, the General Staff have been happy to make do with what they got approved by the Duma. Ironically, that's more democratic than the way the west is currently working! The Russian MoD obviously does not feel overstretched. As VVP says, "all is going well according to our goals", which is to say that our "mobilisation plans" are all satisfactory ... unlike Ukraine's, which clearly show economic, weaponry, and manpower mobilisation to be a fiasco.
-The American MLRS HIMARS are controlled by the crews of NATO personnel, an unnamed representative of the Russian security forces said. “According to information received from sources in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at least two HIMARS installations are operating in the southern direction, the remaining 10 are dispersed in an arc in the north, in the area of active hostilities. The calculations of the installations are staffed from NATO military personnel who have been withdrawn from the state, ” RIA Novosti quotes the interlocutor. The complexes are guarded by employees of private military companies close to the Pentagon, those with whom the US military enters into contracts, he added.
Guidance is carried out with the help of American military satellites; after launches, the installation is quickly moved and does not return it to its previous positions. “Each volley is necessarily covered by several volleys of more primitive systems, such as Uragan or Smerch, whose task is to saturate Russian air defense with targets and deplete their ammunition by the time HIMARS is launched,” the source said. All movement and operation of installations is carried out at night, during the curfew.
The NATO military does not trust Ukrainians, both military and civilian. The Ukrainian MLRS crews participating in the joint strike are not aware of the joint work with HIMARS, and are not aware that they are a cover for NATO crews. “They only have the launch time and target coordinates at their disposal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration (MAC) of the Zaporozhye region, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are shelling the liberated settlements from HIMARS when Russian air defenses are reloading after repelling attacks from older MLRS. He added that after the last strike of Ukrainian drones on the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Energodar, four victims remain in serious condition. Recall that on Wednesday, Ukrainian troops released 12 missiles from the HIMARS MLRS on the Antonovsky Bridge, some of them were intercepted by air defense. Earlier, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that the United States does not yet intend to supply Ukraine with shells for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) with a range of over 80 km.
Recall that on June 1, the US authorities allocated a $700 million military assistance package to Ukraine, which includes four HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) multiple launch rocket systems. More than 20 types of ammunition have been created for HIMARS, the firing range of which, depending on the type, can range from 30–80 km (in the MLRS mode) to 300 km or more (as an operational-tactical missile system). The Russian military has already destroyed HIMARS complexes in the area of the settlement of Krasnoarmeysk in the DPR with high-precision ground-based weapons.
-A recent report from NBC news has generated a lot of discussion about the relationship between the military and American society. Especially from right-leaning commentators, much of the blame is placed on the current administration and the apparent increase of “woke” cultural initiatives and vaccine mandates. The 3 main reasons people aren’t joining the military:
1. People don’t want to die for the current regime’s neoliberal agenda
2. The military is woke now & no longer exemplifies peak masculine culture
3. Vax mandates exposed how little the regime actually cares about its servicemembers
-Shares of AT&T fell on Thursday after CEO John Stankey said that customers are starting to put off paying their phone bills - which resulted in the wireless carrier cutting this year's forecast for free cash flow by $2 billion, Bloomberg reports.
-As it presses ahead with providing tens of billions of dollars in military, economic and direct financial support aid to Ukraine and encourages its allies to do the same, the Biden administration is now once again grappling with longstanding worries about Ukraine's suitability as a recipient of massive infusions of American aid. Those issues, which date back decades and were not an insignificant part of former President Donald Trump's first impeachment, had been largely pushed to the back burner in the immediate run-up to Russia's invasion and during the first months of the conflict as the U.S. and its partners rallied to Ukraine's defense. But Zelenskyy's weekend firings of his top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials have resurfaced those concerns and may have inadvertently given fresh attention to allegations of high-level corruption in Kyiv made by one outspoken U.S. lawmaker.
-A number of known British pedophiles have been asked to leave Poland after British authorities discovered they traveled there to target Ukrainian children in refugee camps, the National Crime Agency said on Thursday. The ten men were interviewed by Polish immigration authorities before being sent home, the National Crime Agency (NCA) told The Independent. According to an NCA spokesperson, the men were required by law to declare their convictions upon arriving in Poland, but “we find inevitably they haven’t.” The convicted predators reportedly claimed they were offering “humanitarian assistance” to refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, of which at least 5,000 in Poland are unaccompanied children, the spokesperson continued.
-A summer camp in Portland, Oregon, is offering children the opportunity to become budding social justice warriors (SJW) while “reflecting on white supremacy” and learning Black Lives Matter (BLM) chants about putting “killer cops in jail.” The Budding Roses camp in August for fourth through eighth graders is a project of the Black Rose Anarchist Federation, a political organization promoting the tenets of anarchy that some would argue led to the Portland riots of 2020. In June 2021, the Portland Police Association issued a press release announcing that the Portland Police Bureau Rapid Response Team resigned from their voluntary positions due to the “political venom” of local politicians who not only failed to support but demonized the team during the Portland riots that began in 2020 and continued through 2021. The resignation is a step toward what Budding Roses teaches children in the chant, “Cops and borders, We don’t need them.” As with many SJW goals, the camp’s curriculum appears to be inflicting children with race obsession and graphic sexual concepts, as can be seen in a BLM coloring book espousing transgender affirmation and in a chant that compares the government to a rapist. The camp also has a class on “Why Writing People in Prisons and Jails Matters” to instruct children on writing to incarcerated felons. “Letter writing with incarcerated people encompasses our commitment to change, and the intersection of our priorities,” it says. “In order to fight for prison abolition, we must connect with and advocate for those most impacted by the prison industrial complex.” In its “Tear Gas for Portlanders” class, a drawing of a person in Antifa garb who introduces himself as “your friendly neighborhood anti-fascist” gives a lecture on tear gas, how it’s made, where it has been used, how much the city of Portland has spent on it, and why it shouldn’t be used. According to the class, tear gas is another tool in the box of what it describes as a racist police force.
-Days after Politico reported that Republicans are freaking out because one of their own, Rep. Victoria Spartz, slammed the government of Ukraine and called for "proper oversight of critical infrastructure and delivery of weapons and aid," the Associated Press (aggregated by NPR, no less) has joined this very out-of-character departure from prevailing narratives peddled by mainstream outlets.
-Around 0700-0800 local time, Russian NatGas flowed through the biggest pipeline into Europe at roughly 40% capacity, the same level before flows were curtailed to zero for ten days of planned maintenance. "The resumption this morning of flows along Nord Stream is likely to lead to a collective sigh of relief from not just the European gas market, but from the wider economy," Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at ICIS in London, told Bloomberg. The resumption of flows comes as Europe prepares for the worst energy crisis in decades. Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn doesn't expect the pipeline to return to full capacity. Klaus Mueller, head of German regulator BNetzA, tweeted earlier and confirmed NatGas flows "can today reach the pre-maintenance level of approx. 40% utilization (approx. 700 GWh/d)," but he poured cold water on the belief that 60% utilization would return anytime soon.
-President Biden issued some surprise comments weighing in on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming Taiwan trip, telling reporters Wednesday that the US military think's it's "not a good idea" for her to visit the island. When asked specifically about the potential trip which days ago began to widely be reported, earning condemnation and a warning of "forceful measures" from China, Biden said, "The military thinks it’s not a good idea right now, but I don’t know what the status of it is.
-Greece, Spain, and Portugal are already among what's looking to be an ever-growing list of EU member states who don't agree with the European Commission's proposed 15% cut in natural gas consumption across the bloc. Greek spokesman Ioannis Oikonomou told a press briefing in Athens on Thursday that the government "has submitted proposals and we continue to maintain that this direction can provide solutions.” Regardless of the Russian supply squeeze and EC President Ursula von der Leyen charging that Putin is "weaponizing" Russian energy in an attempt to blackmail Europe - and to punish the EU over anti-Russian sanctions - Greek Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas stressed that common households and businesses would be the first to suffer across the country. He said Athens would not conform to such a directive.
-New reporting in Bloomberg alleges that President Vladimir Putin's plan for captured territories in Ukraine is to absorb them into the Russian federation by staging referendums as early as September, citing "people familiar with the strategy". "Officials are preparing to organize votes in areas currently controlled by the Russian military and any others its troops are able to seize in coming weeks, three people said," the report indicates. "The goal is to conduct referendums on joining Russia by Sept. 15, two of the people said, asking not to be identified because the issue is sensitive."
-The UK Charity Commission has dropped an investigation into multi-million-pound donations made by the Qatari royal family to the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF), triggered by a series of UK press revelations last month. “We have assessed the information provided by the charity and have determined there is no further regulatory role for the Commission,” the watchdog’s spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday. British media reported in June that Prince Charles had received three separate cash payments totaling over £2.5 million ($3 million) between the years 2011 and 2015, personally accepting the donations from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani, who served as PM of Qatar from 2007 to 2013.
COVID CASES USA 7-DAY AVG
124,539 JUL 19 2022
35,705 JUL 19 2021
DEATHS 7-DAY AVG
425 JUL 19 2022
273 JUL 19 2021
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