Could Russia’s bane be a boon to the Houthis’?

The Russians are losing large naval vessels right and left. The only positive side for them is that these vessels don’t play a crucial strategic role in the war.

They’re more of an embarrassment than anything else.

The problem for the Russians is that the explosives-laden unmanned speed boats used in these attacks are not aerial drones flying high in the air where radar could detect them and bring them down.

Radar faces a serious problem when the target is located at such a low threshold that it can no longer “see” the target. This scientific principle is at the origin of the popular expression “it flew under the radar.”

This is why Russia is having such a hard time defending against the unmanned boat drones, although I suspect Russian engineers will eventually find a satisfactory solution.

But the Russians’ dilemma could be the Houthis’ solution. So far the Houthis have been firing missiles and drones at Israel-related ships, including some US-Coalition military vessels, and their results have been mixed. Many of these munitions are being shot down with radar guided air defenses.

But what if the Houthis decided to adopt the method of NATO and Ukraine and started using explosives-laden surface boats guided toward their targets?

Would they have any less success than the Ukrainian military in sinking large naval vessels and commercial ships?

Wouldn’t the US and its coalition of genocide defenders face the same problem that has plagued Russia since the Ukrainians got their hands on those formidable unmanned speed boats?

After all, Iran still hasn’t returned the favor to Israel for the latter’s deadly strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria that killed the Quds force’s highest-ranking generals. If Iran can supply unmanned speed boats to the Houthis and they can score a bullseye on a ship of the genocide defenders, that might be seen by everyone as justice served.

**

Here’s your air strike update for April 9, 2024

https://vz.ru/news/2024/4/9/1262518.html

APRIL 9, 2024, 16:04 • NEWS OF THE DAY

The Russian Armed Forces destroyed Ukrainian Armed Forces militants near Spornoye with guided munitions

Ministry of Defense: Russian Armed Forces destroyed Ukrainian militants with guided ammunition near Spornoye

Text: Vera Basilaya

Russian troops, using guided munitions, attacked the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Sporny, Ukrainian militants were destroyed, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

The Russian Ministry of Defense published footage of objective monitoring of the destruction of Ukrainian militants near Sporny. The strike was carried out by Russian military personnel of the Southern Group of Forces, according to a message on the department’s Telegram channel.

Earlier, a Ukrainian train with Ukrainian Armed Forces reinforcements was hit by a missile strike in the DPR.

...

APRIL 9, 2024, 13:40 • NEWS OF THE DAY

A Ukrainian train with Ukrainian Armed Forces reinforcements was hit by a missile strike in the DPR

Text: Dmitry Zubarev

A train with reinforcements from the Armed Forces of Ukraine was hit by a missile strike in the Konstantinovka area in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the DPR, law enforcement agencies reported.

As a TASS source reported, the Russian Armed Forces launched a missile attack on a train carrying Ukrainian Armed Forces reservists heading to Druzhkovka. The source added that several concentrations of Ukrainian Armed Forces infantry were also hit in the same area.

Earlier, the Russian Armed Forces hit a military train in the Kharkov region.

…

9 APRIL 2024

The Russian Armed Forces destroyed the location of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the center of Poltava at night

Text: Dmitry Zubarev

The Russian Armed Forces destroyed the location of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the center of Poltava at night, said the coordinator of the Nikolaev underground, Sergei Lebedev, referring to his colleagues.

According to him, three powerful explosions occurred in Poltava at night, the location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the city center was destroyed, and a Geranium drone was shot down over the city and it fell on a two-story building, there were casualties, the house was slightly damaged, RIA Novosti reports.

Lebedev added that there was also an arrival in Kremenchug near the railway station, where after the arrival “the ambulances went sluggishly without sirens, but with flashing lights,” they were afraid of a new trend of the Ukrainian military - to hit the doctors and rescuers who arrived at the scene of the explosion.

Earlier, Lebedev reported that the Dolgintsevo airfield in the Krivoy Rog region, where Ukrainian Armed Forces aircraft were based, was hit.

**

https://israelpalestinenews.org/no-wordno-words-do-justice-to-horrors-people-gaza-living-in-day-184/

Human rights officials have never seen anything like Gaza; Israel's AI killer, "Lavender"; Israeli army withdraws from part of Khan Younis; WCK founder says Israel is in a "war against humanity"; cancer-stricken Walid Daqqa dies in Israeli prison from medical negligence; Nicaragua takes Germany to world court over arming of Israel; more

Me:

But that’s not what blows my mind. Israelis have been committing atrocities for years but they were all kept under wraps and the reports were heavily censored.

But now the media can no longer contain these extreme crimes and the world knows what they are doing.

So what blows my mind is the coldness of Evangelical groups and their support for Israel.

Evangelicals used to convince many that they really cared about human life because they opposed abortion.

But now that news about the Israeli atrocities are splashed all over the news, they are no longer ill informed. Yes they keep saying “I stand with Israel.” This is nothing but Satanism and it’s exposed.

But what they ignore is that their own bottom line is no longer secure.

The golden-tongued millionaire "Christian" TV preachers could crow "I stand with Israel" with impunity because very few Westerners knew the horrors Israel was inflicting on Palestinians. So they just got richer and fatter. And lazier.

But their cover has been blown.  They had a good racket going with donors pouring money into their coffers.

But with the truth now on display in the mainstream media, with photos of emaciated children dying of hunger, it's only a matter of time before the old softhearted donors will close their purse strings in disgust.

People now realize there is nothing holy about the Holy Land.

https://israelpalestinenews.org/no-wordno-words-do-justice-to-horrors-people-gaza-living-in-day-184/

"No words can do justice to the horrors that people in Gaza are living in" – Day 184

Israel's AI killer; Khan Younis; Israel's "war against humanity"; Walid Daqqa dies in prison; Nicaragua takes Germany to world court

israelpalestinenews.org

**

Our thanks to CA for this:

Tue 4/9/2024 6:32 AM

The American news media, it seems to me, is beating its war drums again, repeating endlessly their mindless, nationalistic, jingoistic, and even moralistic propaganda. Many Americans simply are not buying their bullshit this time around.  When you consider how well that propaganda engine worked in 2001 (or in 1951, or in 1965), you have to admit that things have changed dramatically in 23 years.  Americans know where this kind of propaganda is leading, and they don't want to go there.  Again.

Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, and subsequently, the invasion of Ukraine, are the most aggressive moves by any large military power since the end of the Cold War.  That is true only if we ignore America's wars and drone strikes of the past 23 years. Iraq, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen. Russia is the most aggressive nuclear power, but only if we ignore the current genocidal mass murder being conducted by Israelis in Gaza. 

I was astonished to receive the following statement because I had almost forgotten that some people actually think like this: "You live in a dream world, CA, the USA has never been aggressive to Russia like Russia has been to all its neighbors FOREVER!"

Excuse me?  Mexico and South America are neighbors of the USA.  And so is Canada.

Canadians have repulsed three American attempts to invade this nation, with the intent of annexation (that is the very definition of imperialist expansion).

The last of those invasions was repulsed at the Battle of Lundy's Lane (also known as the Battle of Niagara Falls). That battle was fought against an armed invasion force and took place on 25 July 1814, in present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812, and probably the deadliest battle ever fought on Canadian soil. That battle was fought on Canadian soil, and in defense of Canadian soil, and today soil which remains Canadian. It was fought against a far more powerful military aggressor.

That was the third and last military invasion of Canada. The invaders were beaten, and driven back across the border.

I would count the number of sovereign countries that have been attacked by the US since 2001 as seven: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Uganda.  Four of those attacks were during President Obama's administration, his predecessor only invaded three countries. Actually, it's not unreasonable to count the 200 US Marines who entered Guatemala to "assist" with the "drug war" there as an eighth country. Those Marines have no legitimate reason to be in Guatemala.

If the US is not trying to extend its national borders, that is absolutely no reason to believe the US is not trying to extend its "sphere of influence" and control.  Domination.  That's called imperialism.

As for Russia's annexation of Crimea being an act of cowardly bullying, in which a larger, far more powerful country attacked first, without provocation, a target nation that is smaller and less powerful, I have only one thing to say:  Iraq

Although I could, just as well, name one a few other small nearly-defenseless countries.

…

Me:

Russia was NOT the aggressor in Ukraine. For 8 brutal years, the Kiev Nazis were shelling Donbass, and here is the proof: https://donhank.substack.com/p/so-the-russian-incursion-in-ukraine

**

The Israel lobby controls US politics

https://www.instagram.com/alikeaiw/reel/C5GUj_yMmxo/

**

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/09/gaza-israels-imposed-starvation-deadly-children

But Donald Trump says Americans should love Israel. Could that be why Trump is losing to Biden in the polls?

**

Jeffbrown.subbstack.com

Where else but China Writers' Group? Matt Ehret on occult Hollywood, Pepe Escobar on revolutionary Africa, Ramin Mazaheri on the death of liberalism and T.P. Wilkinson on the human existence.

Where else but China Writers' Group? Matt Ehret on occult Hollywood, Pepe Escobar on revolutionary Africa, Ramin Mazaheri on the death of liberalism and T.P. Wilkinson on the human existence.

**

ضرب مصافي النفط: خيار الردع والعقاب أمام الحماقة الإسرائيلية (alkhanadeq.org.lb)

Tuesday 09 April 2024 03:31

Striking oil refineries: the option of deterrence and punishment in the face of Israeli foolishness

Israeli oil refineries

The temporary entity’s complexes and refineries constitute one of the most dangerous and prominent targets that the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, Hezbollah, may target during any major or large-scale war with the entity, due to the importance these facilities possess at the level of the economy and energy (fuel and electricity production), and the most dangerous at the level of petrochemical industries. Directly targeting it will cause thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of deaths and injuries among the settlers.

Therefore, the ability to target these compounds constitutes a deterrent factor on the one hand that may prevent the occupation government from committing any foolishness in Lebanon, especially with regard to civilians, and a strong punitive factor on the other hand if such foolishness is committed.

Refinery Complex in Haifa (32.819136955322946, 35.04554978008912)

_ It is about 31 km away from the Palestine border with Lebanon, which means that there is no need to use missiles with a range exceeding 100 km, if the resistance decides to throw them from the southern Lebanon area.

_ It was established in Haifa Bay in 1938, to be close to the Kirkuk-Haifa oil pipeline.

__ It is considered one of the most important and sensitive economic centers in the entity because it includes many facilities that process and store petrochemical materials, in addition to the commercial port on the Mediterranean coast. The refining capacity of the complex is about 25 thousand tons of oil per day.

_ Its refineries operate continuously without interruption, including Saturdays and holidays. It employs 1,500 direct workers and 2,000 contractor workers, and most of the workers are settlers from the Haifa area and northern occupied Palestine.

_Different fuel products are transported through pipelines or through tank trucks.

_Main facilities:

1) The Northern Line: It is located north of the Kishon area and its location was chosen because of its distance from settlement areas and its proximity to petrochemical industry centers.

This part of the complex includes an underground pipeline system for transporting methanol and other petrochemical materials, warehouses for storing ammonia and ethylene, in addition to several support service facilities to provide nitrogen, drinking water, compressed air, fire-fighting systems and a weighbridge.

2) The Southern Line: It includes 70 tanks connected by pipes to a platform designated to serve one ship.

3) Oil facilities: facilities responsible for refining oil for import or export of all types of its derivatives.

4) Port: The eastern part of the complex, which is designated for dealing with petroleum-derived materials. It can receive two ships at the same time with an unloading capacity of up to 1,000 tons per hour.

5) An external anchor in Haifa Bay with an unloading capacity of 2,500 tons per hour, where imported crude oil shipments are unloaded in order to transport it through underwater pipes to storage warehouses, and from there it is transported to the Haifa Refinery.

6) Tanks: Located in the Kiryat Haim area (northeast of the facility) with 41 tanks, with a total capacity of 937 thousand cubic meters of crude oil, in addition to 17 tanks with a capacity of 157 thousand cubic meters located in the main port, designated for storing heavy and light crude oil and oil derivatives. .

_ Among its subsidiary facilities:

1) A power station to supply electricity and steam to meet the operational needs of the station.

2)Sewage treatment plant.

3) Cooling facilities (on June 12, 2020, the eastern cooling tower unexpectedly collapsed).

4) Flares designed to burn gases that accumulate during a malfunction in order to prevent a devastating explosion.

  _ Hezbollah targeted it during the July 2006 war, and it actually hit it, but the occupying entity did not disclose the nature and extent of the losses that befell the complex.

Refinery Complex in Ashdod (Ashdod) - 31.8421930629217, 34.678655196300866

_ It is about 146 km away from the Palestinian border with Lebanon, which means that there is no need to use missiles with a range exceeding 200 km.

_In 1969, the occupation government took the decision to build another refinery in Ashdod (in the industrial zone in the northern part of the city), firstly to distribute the risks (the risks of military targeting during wars), and secondly because of its proximity to the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline.

Today, the refinery's pipeline connects to the Israeli fuel pipeline, the Eilat-Ashkelon crude oil pipeline and two Israeli Electric Company submarine lines in Ashdod. This plant is also connected to the entity's natural gas distribution network.

_In 1973, the complex began operating, which led to an increase in the refining capacity of the entity’s refineries. The total area of the refinery complex is about 1.1 million square meters, while its annual refining capacity is about 4 million tons of crude oil.

This complex produces 40% of the fuel consumed in the occupation entity, and also produces 40% of domestic gas, and it operates continuously (24/24), which means that any targeting of this facility will leave the Israeli fuel sector with a major deficit, and it will not be The occupation can quickly restore its loss.

The factory is divided into the following sub-sectors, the most prominent of which are:

1) Storage container facilities: about 60 containers for crude oil, intermediate products and finished products.

2) Crude oil refining and processing facilities.

3) Cooling towers.

4) A gas-fired power station that supplies steam and electricity for the station’s consumption.

5) Compressed air systems.

_ An operations team consisting of 400 people works at the complex, divided between field operators and control room operators. The operations team is supported by a complex maintenance team.

_There is a central control room for the entire complex, which is equipped with a central control system that is programmed and prepared for emergency situations, and is responsible for controlling the independent systems (for example: the water treatment system, etc.).

Writer:

Ali Nour El-Din

**

https://tsargrad.tv/news/rossija-vykljuchila-svet-vo-lvove-i-odesse-harkov-mogut-vzjat-bez-shturma_984723

IVAN EVSEEV

RUSSIA “TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS” IN LVIV AND ODESSA: KHARKIV CAN BE TAKEN WITHOUT STORMING

Ukrainian channels believe that Russia is preparing an assault on Kharkov. However, experts agree: there will be no assault. Kharkov will be taken in a different way, that’s obvious. Read more about this in the material from Constantinople.

Russia “turned off the lights” in Lviv and Odessa

The safety margin of the Ukrainian energy sector is decreasing almost daily as a result of combined Russian attacks on critical infrastructure. Since the beginning of 2024, attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities have become increasingly powerful and destructive.

According to the British edition of The Financial Times, Russia has changed its tactics when attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure: it is now using high-precision missiles to destroy power plants in areas remote from the capital and less protected. As a result, there is a risk that some of the affected objects will not be completely restored by next winter. At the same time, the Czech publication Seznam zprávy claims that the Russian military has almost completely destroyed Ukraine’s energy sector. In addition, the material states that Ukraine will not be able to eliminate the consequences of the destruction of infrastructure for several years.

“The obvious goal now is permanent, irreparable damage,” the publication writes.

However, in Kyiv they are confident that Ukraine is not in danger of a “total blackout” amid attacks on the energy infrastructure. At least, this is what Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko thinks, not taking into account the fact that after accurate hits, Kharkov was blackouted for two days, and the destroyed power is now being compensated by energy from other regions.

“Of course, I think that we will not lose all generation. If you look at the energy mix, nuclear produces more than 50% of the electricity in the state. Therefore, certain components are more important in terms of transmission. But they will not achieve a total blackout in the country,” - STRANA.ua quotes Galushchenko as saying.

Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine Svetlana Grinchuk said that there is no shortage of electricity in the country's energy system, but there are difficulties with its transmission. According to her, this is due to damage to infrastructure in some regions after massive attacks by the Russian Armed Forces.

“For example, Kharkov and the Kharkov region, where local generation was very badly damaged, as well as transmission system facilities. There is currently no shortage in the unified energy system,” Grinchuk said during the telethon.

Nevertheless, it should be understood that after this winter, Ukraine will face another winter, and after that another. About 350 thousand residents were left without electricity in Kharkov and the region after a drone attack in early April. According to preliminary estimates, the damage is approximately $10 billion, this amount was announced by Kharkov mayor Igor Terekhov. He also noted that the region’s energy sector has been almost completely destroyed.

Moreover, experts are confident that in the next month, electricity will run out in all major cities on the left bank of the Dnieper, and residents will be evacuated. Now Kyiv is trying to blame Moscow for creating a humanitarian crisis, however, after the shelling of civilians in the Belgorod region, there is a feeling that the Kyiv authorities did not even imagine that they could receive a destructive response.

Let us remind you that the Russian army began the liquidation of critical infrastructure in Ukraine after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge on October 10, 2022, as well as other terrorist attacks behind which Kyiv’s special services stood. Strikes are being carried out against energy, defense industry, military command and communications facilities throughout the country.

Assault on Kharkov

The head of the office of the President of Square, Andrei Ermak, said in an interview with Politico that Russia is allegedly planning an offensive in the Kharkov area. However, it is unlikely that the Russian army will take the city by storm.

Every day the intensity of our attacks on critical infrastructure facilities in Kharkov, as well as enemy temporary deployment points and ammunition depots, is increasing. Military observer, reserve colonel, combat veteran Gennady Alekhin believes that the Russian Armed Forces are “hunting” for the Czech-made Vampire MLRS, which were probably used during shelling of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in the Belgorod region. According to him, this is evidenced by the absence of such attacks from the enemy in the past few days.

“If previously we only used air defense against these installations on approach, now we destroy them directly as they move. Only recently did our Grad work successfully. That is, such strikes are already delivered from the ground,” he said in a conversation with Tsargrad.

He added that a kind of hunt for enemy MLRS continues. “We try to destroy not only the installations, but also the routes by which they travel.”

As for a full-scale attack on Kharkov, Alekhin noted that the city will not be taken by storm; most likely, non-standard operational-tactical solutions will be used for this: this could be encirclement or blockade.

Something's cooking

On the night of April 8, explosions occurred again in the Odessa region. According to some reports, the transport and logistics hub was damaged as a result.

“Kharkov is the place where our greatest efforts are now being applied. And, perhaps, preparations are taking place for a theater of military operations, so that it would be more convenient for our troops to work there in the coming months. As for the Odessa region, this is the sea gate of the “404 country”, through which there is a very large flow of weapons and everything else. Accordingly, this region also has to be turned off," said Tsargrad military observer Vlad Shlepchenko.

In turn, the head of the Zaporozhye public movement “We are together with Russia” Vladimir Rogov noted that Kharkov is the main threat to the Belgorod region, so the need to create a sanitary zone remains on the agenda.

“Sabotage and reconnaissance groups come from there and strike peaceful Belgorod and other populated areas of the Belgorod region. Therefore, the need to create a sanitary zone, which the state leaders and top officials spoke about, I think, is currently being discussed. My deep conviction is a sanitary zone should end at the border with Poland,” Rogov said.

"Odessa and Kharkov are Russian"

As military correspondent Alexander Sladkov writes in his Telegram channel, discussing the possible capture of Kharkov and Odessa, both cities should become Russian after the end of the conflict.

Among other things, in his opinion, Russian military bases should be built along the borders with NATO countries.

“There is still a lot to be done. But we are supported by the world majority, tortured by the oppression of the West, Washington, London and NATO,” the military correspondent wrote.

Kharkov is now in the “dig-in” stage, writes The Economist. Energy shortages and military escalation are testing the strength of the remaining enterprises. President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky admitted that there are not enough air defense systems - and this is obvious to all Ukrainian partners. "We are looking for opportunities to give Kharkov more sky protection."

**