Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
POSTED BY: captaincrunch
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 21:09
VIEWED: 562266
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Weekend Update #194: The Worst Week For Ukraine In Years. Can It Become The Best?
An update on Ukraine and Patriots; Moscow and Kyiv
Phillips P. OBrien
Jul 19, 2026
https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/weekend-update-194-the-worst-we
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. . . Fedorov did not start from a blank sheet. Ukrainian strategy had been moving in this direction before he became defense minister. There had been an understanding of the importance of increasing drone production, of decreasing Ukrainian casualties and raising Russian ones under accelerated attrition, of the importance of the long-range/mid-range strike campaign, etc. However, he understood all of it and provided energy and direction that had been lacking. And, unlike earlier defense ministers, he was willing to go after corruption—hard. He also brought in the most ambitious attempt to improve the pay and conditions for Ukrainian soldiers that has ever been attempted.
All of this brought him into conflict with older, Soviet-influenced elements in the armed forces, most prominently Syrskyi. The two looked at the war completely differently. Syrskyi wanted more soldiers for tactical operations to fight over every village, and Fedorov looked at the big picture. . . .
In firing Fedorov and protecting Syrskyi last week, Zelensky was once again showing his worst side as a war leader. He was protecting loyal incompetence over what was better for the country. There can be no sugarcoating of the pill on this.
Fedorov, thankfully, chose not to go quietly. When his dismissal was made clear, he gave a press conference in which he outlined his vision point by point and described what he was trying to achieve. Here is an English-language translation of the press conference, which really is too long and detailed to quote, but provides a great glimpse into why he was so important. . . .
The dissension in the armed forces seems to have been extremely worrying for Zelensky. Many of the best and most effective units had members willing to speak up against Syrskyi and for Fedorov—and at the same time, Syrskyi was pressuring them to support him.
This really is a crucial moment. The firing of Fedorov, if it is allowed to stand along with the keeping of Syrskyi, will not mean that Ukraine will lose the war. However, it will mean higher casualties, more corruption, less flexibility, and more Soviet-style thinking. I can think of nothing worse.
So right now, as I am writing, we are still facing the worst week of the war as we have:
Fedorov out and Syrskyi in.
However, the mood music seems to be heading to—Fedorov back in some position and Syrskyi under threat. If things evolve into:
Fedorov back and Syrskyi out—it will be the best week for Ukraine in years.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Analysis: Why many Ukrainians feel Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi must go
By Francis Farrell | July 19, 2026 9:27 PM
16 minutes read
Listen to this article 22 minutes.
https://kyivindependent.com/analysis-why-ukrainians-feel-commander-in-
chief-syrskyi-must-go-2/
"Fedorov = more Russian deaths;
Syrskyi = more Ukrainian deaths."
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Fighter Jets Are Passé
The future of warfare is drones, clearly.
By Phillips Payson O’Brien | July 18, 2026
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/us-military-tech-drones/6879
45/
In the interwar period, some military officers did not believe the combustion-engine vehicle would replace the horse for combat operations. Cavalry officers from around the world, including the United States and United Kingdom, argued strongly against trading their lovely mounts for new tanks. Many insisted that heavy armored vehicles could never conquer the hilly terrains in which horses thrived.
In 1925, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, the World War I commander in chief of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, described the new airplanes and tanks as “only accessories” to warfare that would still be determined by “man and horse.” In 1938, Brigadier General Hamilton S. Hawkins, a prominent American crusader for horses in combat, lamented the “sheep-like rush to mechanization.”
These arguments ensured that the U.S. and British militaries kept mounted cavalry units until the outbreak of World War II. But when the horse came up against the tank, even the most strident defenses of a horse-bound army became an embarrassing footnote in military history.
The world’s biggest militaries, most notably that of the United States, are now at a similar turning point. The deployment of cheap unmanned vehicles on a mass scale, in the war between Russia and Ukraine and more recently in the U.S. war with Iran, has revealed the vulnerability of hugely expensive tanks, aircraft, and ships and the near impossibility of making major advances by infantry on the ground. Yet Western militaries have failed to reckon with these innovations in warfare, planning and spending as if nothing new is afoot.
In 2024, Brigadier General Douglas Wickert, the U.S. Air Force official in charge of AI piloting technology, insisted that robotized warfare was still “centuries” away. A few weeks ago, the Department of Defense requested more than $5 billion to cover just the 2027 fiscal-year costs of its next generation of manned combat aircraft, the Boeing F-47. At about $300 million a jet, the F-47 is the most expensive fighter in the world. Flight tests aren’t expected to start until after 2031.
The U.S. isn’t the only major military sinking enormous sums into legacy systems. The French and Germans are designing a new tank, which is not slated to be ready until 2040. The Chinese are similarly continuing their buildup of massively armed and staffed aircraft carriers, and will soon start work on the largest nuclear aircraft carrier in the world.
Yet the lessons of the wars before us are that cheaper, nonhuman piloted systems are changing the balance of fighting. The future will be dominated by weapons of war that do not have a human onboard. These include cruise and ballistic missiles, a long-familiar category of weapons that can effectively attack targets anywhere in the air, on land, or in water. More and more, warfare will also include unmanned ground vehicles, which can fight, deliver goods, and evacuate the wounded; sea drones, which threaten ships and containers around the world; and unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, which Ukraine, Russia, China, Israel, and the U.S. are making by the millions.
By still spending so much on conventional manned equipment, the United States and many other countries are diverting funds from more efficient systems. Placing a human in a tank or plane makes these vehicles larger, more easily trackable, and trickier to deploy than their unmanned counterparts. Adding a human to a cockpit requires many more millions of dollars in cost, including small items such as the explosive bolts needed to launch ejector seats and specialized helmets. The helmets worn by F-35 pilots, for instance, were so expensive to develop and build that they are estimated to have cost up to $700,000 each.
Like most bureaucracies, militaries can be resistant to change. Procurement office
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SECOND, Gilligan says everybody hates you. He says that to me too. Since he is a narcissist; I think it is safe to say he is everybody.
T
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Ukraine's MoD unveils new guided munition with 800-meter release altitude
What is the new class of munitions designed for?
By Kateryna Shkarlat | Mon, July 20, 2026 - 18:45
https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/ukraine-s-mod-unveils-new-guided-munit
ion-1784561244.html
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has developed and successfully tested a new class of guided munitions called Firefly. The cutting-edge weapon is expected to enter serial production in the near future.
Firefly's features and effectiveness
Firefly munitions are designed to strike some of the most challenging targets, including enemy bunkers, fortifications, and other protected positions. The system was tested on Ukraine's main bomber drones, where it demonstrated high effectiveness.
Key features and advantages include:
• Operating at altitudes of up to 800 meters.
• After release, the munition independently calculates and adjusts its flight path to the target.
• Maintains high accuracy even in the presence of enemy electronic warfare (EW) systems.
• Enables the destruction of enemy positions from a safe stand-off distance for the carrier platform.
Technology transfer to private manufacturers
The path to mass production of Firefly was opened by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1310, adopted on October 13, 2025. The document allows the Ministry of Defense to transfer technology usage rights to private defense companies.
As a result, manufacturers and innovators within the Brave1 platform can now help scale up production of the munitions and integrate the ready-made technology into their own manufacturing processes.
As previously reported, the Ukrainian military is set to receive more than 22,000 new ground robotic systems for various missions. Since the beginning of 2026, procurement volumes have already nearly doubled the total purchased throughout the entire previous year.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by THG:
SECOND, Gilligan says everybody hates you. He says that to me too. Since he is a narcissist; I think it is safe to say he is everybody.
T
No. Everybody hates the both of you. Just the both of you.
And Shit Golem hates you too, Ted Bundy Clone.
You're just too fucking stupid to pick up on it.
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Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.
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Quote:Two things I love about Putin and Trump:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
No. Everybody hates the both of you. Just the both of you.
1) Putin and Trump increase my gross profit, thanks to increasing fuel prices from wars they started.
2) Putin kills Putin-loving Russians, and Trump kills Trumptards, thanks to their self-delusions of being superior leaders and their grotesquely inferior leadership abilities.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:Two things I love about Putin and Trump:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
No. Everybody hates the both of you. Just the both of you.
1) Putin and Trump increase my gross profit, thanks to increasing fuel prices from wars they started.
As you've alleged before. Hundreds of times by now.
We're all very happy for your your fake internet persona, Shit Golem.
Quote:
2) Putin kills Putin-loving Russians, and Trump kills Trumptards, thanks to their self-delusions of being superior leaders and their grotesquely inferior leadership abilities.
Who is getting killed, Shit Golem?
Be specific.
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Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.
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Quote:6ix, don't you remember almost being dead from a lung infection? What happens to you when Medicaid ends for the unemployed in Indiana? You gonna get a Trump-approved job before that happens? (In Russia, that Putin-approved job would be fighting in Ukraine)
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Who is getting killed, Shit Golem?
Be specific.
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Those who dance always seem crazy to those who can't hear the music.
Coming January 1, 2027- HIP Work Requirements
Beginning January 1, 2027, new federal and state Medicaid laws will require some Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) members between the ages of 19 and 64 to meet work, volunteer, training, or education requirements to keep their coverage. More information about these changes and your coverage will be coming soon. For information on HIP work requirements, please visit https://www.in.gov/fssa/
To beat a dead horse: 6ix, your next health crisis (infection|diabetes|alcoholism|drugs|bi-polar freakout|etc) ends with your death if you are without Medicaid.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Not much happening, other than the wrong guy got fired:
Fedorov would reject every role but a return as defense minister, NV source says
By Alex Stezhensky | July 20, 2026, 10:24 AM
https://english.nv.ua/nation/fedorov-hoche-povernutisya-lishe-na-posad
u-ministra-oboroni-i-inshiy-variantiv-ne-rozglyadaye-50625845.html
Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov plans to reject any position President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may offer unless Zelenskyy offers to reinstate him as defense minister, a source close to Fedorov told NV.
Fedorov had reportedly been offered a position on the National Security and Defense Council with direct access to the president and authority to oversee defense innovation and military reform. Other proposals included serving as a military technology coordinator, or “miltech czar,” and becoming deputy prime minister with responsibility for defense.
The source said Fedorov would most likely reject all three proposals.
Fedorov’s communications chief, Snizhana Rakcheieva, meanwhile, told NV that his former deputies remained in their posts.
Oksana Ferchuk was the only one to move, becoming digital transformation minister. Serhiy Boiev had been appointed acting head of Ukroboronprom before the latest government changes.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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