I've become quite the cynical a-hole that is now hardened to many parts of this war. But seeing that 2yo girl's photo still finds a place inside me that is raw and very emotional. She was born into Russia's war, and died because of Russia's war.
Sometimes the hatred I feel for all Russian's is debilitating. I say this as a person with Russian friends. By action or omission they are all guilty of murdering this child. Their fear of their own state is an insufficient excuse for inaction.
The sadness in me quickly turns to hatred and anger.
Yesterday I read that the Flamingo missile was used against a FSB barracks in somewhere in Crimea close to the mainland. Such a waste of the weapon that supposedly flies 3000 kms. Now, after reading your story about Fire Point, I doubt that missile is even operational.
All reports indicate it is operational. The FP-1 drone is operational and the reports are favorable. Whether corruption is involved or not is a different issue.
The range is a capability. There are a lot of weapons that don't operate at their maximum capabilities. Weapons should be selected based upon their chances of achieving certain outcomes.
It’s not only the distance - a place that even more conventional missile can reach but also the target - FSB barracks - these guys (agents) are very unlikely to see a combat. Anyway, the whole story of this missile promotion leaves a bad taste. They could have used it on a distant airbase or the favourite targets - distant refinery - several times and then started promoting it
Question. If the drones being made by this company are so bad, what has been hitting the targets then? We have a lot grey area here. The report comes from 2023, so either they got better at making these things, or Ukraine is using other models and these guys are getting the glory. Since we only have one Flamingo use so far (confirmed anyway), the jury is still out on those. If they started out bad, and fixed things, well, okay. That has happened before and the real concern is what can they do now. If they are still bad, and its other drones doing the work, that is no good and someone's head needs to roll.
They got better at making those things, and Ukraine is also using other models. It's easier to deterimine Russian missile/drone success/fail rates. Along those lines, Ukraine said that the the Flamingo missiles have been used before, but we have so few public acknowledgements. I would be very happy if half the Ukrainian drones and missiles hit their targets.
I'm not surprised that some drone models/companies might not initially perform well. That is part of the development cycle. The point of the investigation is whether the company was being treated favorably or not. Some other drone companies say their political connections helped them. Fire Point says these companies are just jealous.
It seems that the drones and maybe the missile are successful. That's good, regardless of how they got there. But it might be important if they got their illegally, particularly since such a large amount of money is being sent to Fire Point.
Thanks for the report. You asked (don’t know if you were sarcastic, retoric or simply wondering) the following question: «…because it’s easier to push such laws through the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament), than combat corruption and incompetence within the government?» I think the answer is yes. It is a way of bypassing the corruption. It is not an ideal solution, but a work around. And it will create the two tiered system you describe. Still it might be a better solution. If corruption are not a way of getting things then it will cease. But combating corruption would of course help many issues.
Thanks for the update. China will accept the loss of Russia in the war when it happens. They are the masters in that relationship, but don’t really care. In the meantime they will of course benefit as much as possible.
China says a lot of things, not all of it says it follows up on. Nothing more than that. But I am completely aware that China is today selling Russia lots of things Russia need. Selling mind you, they are not so willing to support Russia as to give. Whether or not Russia will be defeated remains to be seen. Personally I think that Russia will collapse first, and if they do it China will not be able to stop it. A Russian collapse could take many forms, economic, some crisis among the satellites/republics internally, some coup, some breakdown of infrastructure… some deaths. I don’t know. Grinding away at their economy and their enegysystem seems like viable strategies. Smarter fighting on the Ukrainian side. There is a war going on, lots of things can happen. Ukraine is undoubtedly going for some sort of economic collapse. I would rather ask the question why does it take so long to see that China does not control the war in Ukraine? And that it is a long way down on the priorities list of Xi?
I've become quite the cynical a-hole that is now hardened to many parts of this war. But seeing that 2yo girl's photo still finds a place inside me that is raw and very emotional. She was born into Russia's war, and died because of Russia's war.
Sometimes the hatred I feel for all Russian's is debilitating. I say this as a person with Russian friends. By action or omission they are all guilty of murdering this child. Their fear of their own state is an insufficient excuse for inaction.
The sadness in me quickly turns to hatred and anger.
Yesterday I read that the Flamingo missile was used against a FSB barracks in somewhere in Crimea close to the mainland. Such a waste of the weapon that supposedly flies 3000 kms. Now, after reading your story about Fire Point, I doubt that missile is even operational.
Это испытания, поэтому пока выбирают объекты по проще и поближе
All reports indicate it is operational. The FP-1 drone is operational and the reports are favorable. Whether corruption is involved or not is a different issue.
The range is a capability. There are a lot of weapons that don't operate at their maximum capabilities. Weapons should be selected based upon their chances of achieving certain outcomes.
It’s not only the distance - a place that even more conventional missile can reach but also the target - FSB barracks - these guys (agents) are very unlikely to see a combat. Anyway, the whole story of this missile promotion leaves a bad taste. They could have used it on a distant airbase or the favourite targets - distant refinery - several times and then started promoting it
О том, что Трамп - это ещё советский актив, давно не новость и, например, чем его шантажирует кремль сегодня - тоже известно. Одна фамилия - Эпштейн.
Question. If the drones being made by this company are so bad, what has been hitting the targets then? We have a lot grey area here. The report comes from 2023, so either they got better at making these things, or Ukraine is using other models and these guys are getting the glory. Since we only have one Flamingo use so far (confirmed anyway), the jury is still out on those. If they started out bad, and fixed things, well, okay. That has happened before and the real concern is what can they do now. If they are still bad, and its other drones doing the work, that is no good and someone's head needs to roll.
They got better at making those things, and Ukraine is also using other models. It's easier to deterimine Russian missile/drone success/fail rates. Along those lines, Ukraine said that the the Flamingo missiles have been used before, but we have so few public acknowledgements. I would be very happy if half the Ukrainian drones and missiles hit their targets.
I'm not surprised that some drone models/companies might not initially perform well. That is part of the development cycle. The point of the investigation is whether the company was being treated favorably or not. Some other drone companies say their political connections helped them. Fire Point says these companies are just jealous.
It seems that the drones and maybe the missile are successful. That's good, regardless of how they got there. But it might be important if they got their illegally, particularly since such a large amount of money is being sent to Fire Point.
Thanks
A lot of very interesting and detailed news in this update. Excellent work 👍
Thanks for the report. You asked (don’t know if you were sarcastic, retoric or simply wondering) the following question: «…because it’s easier to push such laws through the Verkhovna Rada (the parliament), than combat corruption and incompetence within the government?» I think the answer is yes. It is a way of bypassing the corruption. It is not an ideal solution, but a work around. And it will create the two tiered system you describe. Still it might be a better solution. If corruption are not a way of getting things then it will cease. But combating corruption would of course help many issues.
It's a difficult situation with survival on the line.
For sure. And some bad choices will be made.
Thanks for the update. China will accept the loss of Russia in the war when it happens. They are the masters in that relationship, but don’t really care. In the meantime they will of course benefit as much as possible.
Sure. Just, before it's so far, the CCP is going to do its utmost to prevent Russia from losing.
Yes, that is clear. But they will demand a price for it all the way.
If Pudding is as stupid as to hornily pay 10-fold price... why are the Chinese to blame?
Business is what they care about. So if they can increase the price ten fiålld..
China will not accept Russian defeat. China is serious, and it means that Russia cannot be defeated.
To a wise man, this would be a reason to rethink his strategy.
Unwise, but intelligent people will understand what this statement means, that Russia will not be defeated, but they will continue with their strategy
hoping in miracles: Putin might die, Xi might die, Trump might die...
dismissing the message: China will accept defeat of Russia. Making one question, what exactly in the Chinese statement you didn't understand?
disregarding the interests of Ukrainians who are doing the actual dying
Why does it take so long to understand, that China will not let Russia lose the war in Ukraine?
Sunken cost fallacy
China says a lot of things, not all of it says it follows up on. Nothing more than that. But I am completely aware that China is today selling Russia lots of things Russia need. Selling mind you, they are not so willing to support Russia as to give. Whether or not Russia will be defeated remains to be seen. Personally I think that Russia will collapse first, and if they do it China will not be able to stop it. A Russian collapse could take many forms, economic, some crisis among the satellites/republics internally, some coup, some breakdown of infrastructure… some deaths. I don’t know. Grinding away at their economy and their enegysystem seems like viable strategies. Smarter fighting on the Ukrainian side. There is a war going on, lots of things can happen. Ukraine is undoubtedly going for some sort of economic collapse. I would rather ask the question why does it take so long to see that China does not control the war in Ukraine? And that it is a long way down on the priorities list of Xi?