US says arms shortage due to support for Ukraine.

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has spoken about the need to reconsider the volume of arms supplies to Ukraine due to the depletion of its own stocks: "Due to the growing arms shortage over the next six months, the US Navy may have to decide whether to arm itself or Ukraine."

Even though much of the weaponry transferred to Ukraine is land-based rather than naval, Del Toro's concerns are shared by his colleagues, particularly considering it a big mistake to supply Ukraine with Harpoon missiles, as its own stock of this ammunition is quite small.

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⚡️ French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecorniou: AMX-10RC wheeled tanks to be delivered to Ukraine within 2 months.


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The assault units of the Wagner PMC, after the liberation of the village of Podgorodnoye, are conducting assault operations in the direction of the village of Paraskovievka, located northeast of Bakhmut.
There is a Wagner offensive in the direction of the village of Krasnaya Gora, to the south-west of Soledar.

There is intense fighting on the outskirts of Paraskovievka and Krasnaya Gora.

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Part of the footage from AFU's failed counterattack on Soledar.

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21 years old. Junior sergeant.
She was killed in the Bahmuth direction.
Question: What was a young lady like her doing there?

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Kiev starts to prepare Ukrainians for the sad news - western media reports on Soledar's surrender are spreading on the channels controlled by the Ukrainian president's office

Officially, the Kiev authorities still do not acknowledge the loss of Soledar, but the agenda of the Ukrainian media has drastically changed. There is now a direct message on various channels controlled by the Office of the President, preparing for a truthful statement about the actual situation through reports by Western analysts noting that Soledar has been surrendered. 

In the Ukrainian media space, an article by analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is being circulated, explicitly stating that Soledar has fallen under Russian control. At the same time, neither Kiev nor the West benefits from admitting defeat in this direction, so the loss of the strategically important settlement is presented as a minor event, emphasizing that it does not imply the imminent encirclement of Artempvsk (Bakhmut).

In addition, Kiev-controlled channels cite Pentagon statements claiming that heavy fighting is still taking place in Soledar, thus delaying the inevitable moment of acknowledging the city's loss to the AFU. Soledar has been under complete Russian control for several days - the Wagner PMC is now conducting mopping-up operations in the town, and the enemy resistance has been localized. And Kiev's attempts to launch fakes with alleged video evidence are not crowned with success, nor is the prospect of revenge, which obviously will not succeed.

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WSJ : The decision by the Kremlin to return Russia’s top commander to direct the war efforts in Ukraine comes at a pivotal point in the conflict, possibly heralding a fresh Russian offensive as Moscow grapples for success on the battlefield. 

On Wednesday, the Kremlin appointed Russia’s chief of staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov as commander over Russia’s troops in Ukraine, turning back to a man who led the initial phase of SMO.

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I carefully read the post of the respected Yarem about chemical weapons. I decided to recall the specialized education and consult with a competent chemist.

With a high degree of probability, these ammunition are stuffed with hydrocyanic acid HCN. This is a poisonous volatile liquid, which is why it is stored in the refrigerator in the video. Who is interested in the characteristics of the substance - google it, it's a terrible thing. 85-90% of cases of poisoning end in death. The notorious "potassium cyanide" from detectives is a salt of hydrocyanic acid. And the Germans during the Second World War, with the help of HCN, made the Zyklon-B poison, which was used to kill the prisoners of concentration camps ...

In my opinion, kamikaze drones are designed primarily to defeat the enemy inside the premises (and we are talking about urban battles in Soledar). This increases the concentration of deadly poison in the air.

If vapors are inhaled at concentrations greater than 0.4 mg/l, HCN causes poisoning resulting in death. If the concentration of a substance in the air exceeds 11 mg / l, then vapor intoxication is possible even percutaneously.

Another indirect sign of the presence of a poisonous substance in the ammunition is that the kamikaze drones are not ordinary Mavics, but fpv - extremely maneuverable, capable of flying between tree branches. Therefore, getting into any window of the building is "seeds" for them.

Means of protection against hydrocyanic acid - gas mask. Therefore, I would like to advise the Wagner fighters to put them in assault backpacks (although I am sure that they have already prepared for this). True, as noted above, with a high vapor content, intoxication through the skin is possible.

Zin Note: I'm very skeptical of the idea that WMD will be used in this conflict on either side. I take these reports and videos with a grain of salt, and until this is confirmed, I suggest everyone do the same

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Wagner assaults have entered the Sol(Silj) microdistrict in Soledar from two directions.

The depot of the railway station is already under the control of the "musicians".

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NATO will deploy Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) surveillance planes to Bucharest, Romania. The aircraft are scheduled to arrive on January 17, 2023 and will support the Alliance’s reinforced presence in the region and monitor Russian military activity.

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❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Soledar direction
situation as of 13.00 January 13, 2023

🔻In the Soledar sector, the assault detachments of the PMC "Wagner" are cleaning the quarters and underground communications on the western outskirts of Soledar. Today, the "Wagnerites" entered the territory of the urban-type settlement of Sol and established control over the depot of the railway station of the same name.

▪️In the north-west of Soledar, active battles are taking place on the southern outskirts of Krasnaya Gora and in Paraskovievka near the Bakhmutka River. After the liberation of the railway station Sol, the village of Blagodatnoye was actually cut off from the supply lines from Seversk and Bakhmut.

▪️The surviving members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Soledar and its environs are spreading information about huge losses in manpower due to command errors. In one of the brigades in the company of the formation, only 30 people remained, and in the battalion of 24th Mechanized brigade (OMBr) ,out of 300, only 100 fighters survived.

🔻Fighting continues in Bakhmut and its suburbs. After the liberation of the village, Opytne (Opytnoye), by PMC "Wagner" ,position of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Bakhmut is deteriorating.

▪️In Minkovka, a reserve command post for the consolidated group has been equipped, and the forces of the 116th brigade of the territorial defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Sumy region are expected to arrive in this direction.

▪️As a result of the active offensive of the RF Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lost control over two company and two platoon strongholds in Bakhmut, Kleshcheevka and Krasnaya Gora.

▪️Only on January 12, confirmed losses of Ukrainian formations in Bakhmut amounted to 100 people, and 39 were wounded. To strengthen positions, 600 mobilized without combat experience are expected to be transferred in the near future.

▪️According to the radio interception from Bakhmut, over 800 people have been killed over the past five days, not counting the missing and wounded.

In addition, individual units of Polish mercenaries, who were transferred to the direction a few weeks earlier, suffered huge losses.

The Poles spread information about the loss of communication and the complete disunity between the formations in Bakhmut and the surrounding area. The moral and psychological state of mercenaries is at a low level.

▪️The forces of the 3rd Battalion of the 28th mechanized brigade (OMBr) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted a counteroffensive on Russian positions southwest of Bakhmut. The attack was repulsed, and separate detachments of the 28th Brigade fled from the combat area.

🔻The leadership of the Ukrainian operational-tactical group "Soledar" assesses the situation as critical and expects the intensification of the offensive of Russian troops at the Berestovoye-Spornoye line in order to reach the Seversk agglomeration, as well as in the south at the Ozaryanovka-Mayorsk line towards Druzhba and Dyleevka.

The liberation of Opytnoye allows the Russians to start advancing on the southern outskirts of Bakhmut, as well as attacking the fortified areas of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kleshcheevka from the east. Communication problems and low temperatures affect the ability to use reconnaissance UAVs, which reduces the effectiveness of the use of artillery and MLRS from Chasov Yar(Chasov Yar is a occupied by the Ukrainians) 

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🇷🇺Russian Ministry of Defense : The liberation of Soledar, which is important for the continuation of successful offensive actions, was completed on the evening of January 12.

Establishing control over Soledar allows cutting off the supply routes of Ukrainian troops in Artemovsk, and then blocking and taking into the cauldron the Ukrainian troops remaining there, the Ministry of Defense reported.

The capture of Soledar became possible due to the constant fire destruction of the enemy by aviation, missile forces, and artillery, the Ministry of Defense added.

The ministry noted the actions of the Russian Airborne Forces units, which, in a covert maneuver, successfully attacked Ukrainian positions at once, occupying dominant heights and blockading the city from the north and south sides.

In the last three days alone, Ukrainian casualties near Soledar exceed 700 people, and more than 300 weapons (equipment) were destroyed, the Russian Defence Ministry says

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US may lose control of world finance due to conflict in Ukraine — French expert

The Ukrainian conflict is existential for the United States, which, in the event that friendly European economies become exhausted, will run the risk of losing its grip on world finance, French historian and anthropologist Emmanuel Todd said in an interview with Le Figaro.

In his commentary, he recalls a piece of analysis offered by Professor John Mearsheimer, of the University of Chicago, who argued that whereas for Russia this conflict was "existential," for the United States it was just another game among other countries, and that victory or defeat in it would be of little importance to the US. "But this analysis is insufficient. [U.S. President Joe] Biden now has to hurry. America is fragile and the Russian economy’s resistance is pushing the US imperial system towards the abyss. Nobody had expected the Russian economy would be able to withstand the ‘economic power’ of NATO," Todd said.

He is certain that the United States is in a phase of long-term decline and, against the backdrop of its waning influence in the world, it has decided to press for greater influence in its "original protectorates," acquired after World War II, in other words, Europe and Japan. Against this background the European economy’s collapse, the expert notes, is fraught with great risks for the United States itself.

"If the Russian economy offers long-term resistance to sanctions and manages to bleed the European economy white and manages to survive with Chinese support, US monetary control of the world will collapse, and with it, the US’ ability to finance its mammoth trade deficit for next to nothing. This war has become existential for the United States. It cannot get out of the conflict before Russia. They cannot let go. This explains why we are now in an open-ended war, in a confrontation that is bound to result in the collapse of one side or the other," Todd says.

Economic and social problems

The conflict in Ukraine "leads to a real economy that allows for gauging the real wealth of states and their productive capacity," the expert states. In particular, he points to a two-fold increase in Russia’s wheat production after the first major sanctions were introduced in 2014, as well as Russia's leading position in building nuclear power plants, not only at home, but also abroad.

The outcome of the conflict "will depend on the ability of both systems to produce weapons," Todd believes. The historian notes that the transition to a war of attrition reduces the influence of advanced US military technologies, being used by Ukraine. It brings to the forefront the availability of skilled personnel, material resources and industrial potential. "At this point the West’s fundamental problem of globalization begins to intervene: we have moved so many industries [from our territory] that we don’t know now whether our military plants will be able to maintain the desired production pace," he added.

In addition to natural and industrial resources the expert notes the great role of human resources and education. He points to the United States’ more than twofold advantage over Russia in population, but advises his readership to remember that in the United States only 7% of students master engineering professions, while in Russia there are about 25% of them, which ultimately gives Russia a competitive edge. "The United States is filling this gap with foreign students, mostly Indians and even to a greater extent, Chinese. This substitution resource is unreliable, though, and is already dwindling," he said.


https://tass.com/world/1561887

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Wagner boss shrugs off US State Department’s remarks about PMC

The US newspaper Politico claimed on Monday that the Washington administration was stepping up the collection of data regarding the activities of PMC Wagner, including those supposedly underway in Serbia and the Central African Republic

The founder of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that statements by US Department of State officials about the military company do not bother him at all.

"You know, I'm not really worried about US actions," he said in response to a request from the RTVI television channel for a comment on statements by US Department of State adviser Derek Chollet to the effect Wagner PMC activities were worrying Washington and the US was working to neutralize them. Prigozhin's press-service made his reaction public on its Telegram channel on Friday.

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A video of Ukrainian soldiers moving under heavy fire from Wagner artillery in the village of Krasnaya Gora (Krasna Hora), north of Bakhmut (Artemovsk), has been published. 

The Ukrainians are retreating along Pervomayskaya Street (48.664497, 38.015041) towards the landing on the northern outskirts of the settlement. 
Recall that already yesterday the  General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported fierce fighting for Paraskoviyivka, which is next to Krasnaya Gora. 

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