General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
1 hour
The estimated total combat losses of the enemy from
24.02.22 to 15.04.26 were approximately /
The estimated total combat losses of the enemy
from 24.02.22 to 15.04.26
personnel – about 1,313,970 (+1,010) persons
tanks – 11,864 (+1) units
armored combat vehicles – 24,390 (+1) units
artillery systems – 40,003 (+50) units
MLRS – 1,736 (+4) units
air defense systems – 1,346 (+0) units
aircraft – 435 (+0) units
helicopters – 350 (+0) units
operational–tactical UAVs – 239,241 (+1,388) units
cruise missiles – 4,517 (+0) units
ships – 33 (+0) units
submarines – 2 (+0) units
automotive and fuel tanks – 89,553 (+253) units
special equipment – 4,125 (+2) units
"Only the price on the chart can show the entrance to the deal..."
Oh dear, Trump has just figured out that perhaps confronting China militarily at this particular point in time, when the US military is exhausted in almost every aspect, is not such a great idea.
And so Chinese tankers carrying Iranian oil are sailing straight past the US blockading warships with a cheery wave as they go by.
And given that US sanctions busting China takes nearly all of Iran’s oil that means you have to ask what’s the point of having any kind of a US blockade at all.
And the real joke is that China doesn’t even need Iranian oil, China is 85% energy self-sufficient and can get all the oil it wants from Russia.
And what about France, Japan and Korea all bargaining to get supplies through? Is Trump going to stop those? No.
The markets don’t seem to be impressed either, certainly no spike up in oil in anticipation of reduced supply caused by the US blockade.
Trump, continually trying to escalate while holding the weak hand continually just makes the whole situation worse for everyone especially himself and the US.
Americans themselves are not stupid but within their institutions merit was abandoned long ago as a means for promotion and as a consequence the arse-lickers rose to the top.
And then the man in charge becomes mentally compromised and you end up where America finds itself now, the mentally ill getting advice from the totally incompetent, nothing makes sense, nothing works and the people in charge are way out of their depth.
Diplomats who know nothing of diplomacy, generals who know nothing of military strategy, if fact go through all the institutions and find the same, people in charge who have absolutely no clue what they’re doing but still must do something.
Meanwhile the Chinese and Russian foreign secretaries, 2 of the most experienced diplomats on the planet, just had a meeting to discuss what’s to be done about America.
Quite frankly Americans should be shitting themselves given the leadership they’re stuck with (I’m including all congress here) and the tiered layers of incompetence in every institution that’s been built up over decades.
Not that the US is on its own, all of western Europe shares the same disease.
And speaking of European idiots, Metz meeting with Zelensky in Germany announced the building of a new Ukrainian army from all the draft dodgers hiding out in EU countries which they expect to be ready to enter the battlefield in 2027, good luck with that.
And more on European idiots, the Russians have opened up a case in the European courts over the frozen Russian assets that could be very difficult for Ursula van der Moron, the case is not about the EU doing it in the first place but the illegality of making it permanent (therefore outright theft) which apparently is on a much more sound legal footing and aims to make EU countries libel for the 300 billion plus interest and legal fees, all of which has already been spent by the EU except for the 90 billion they promised to give to Zelensky.
Trumps Blockade Means Military SHOWDOWN With China!
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General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
1 hour
The estimated total combat losses of the enemy
from 24.02.22 to 16.04.26 were approximately /
The estimated total combat losses of the enemy
from 24.02.22 to 16.04.26
personnel – about 1,315,070 (+1,100) persons
tanks – 11,866 (+2) units
armored combat vehicles – 24,391 (+1) units
artillery systems – 40,046 (+43) units
MLRS – 1,738 (+2) units
air defense systems – 1,347 (+1) units
aircraft – 435 (+0) units
helicopters – 350 (+0) units
operational–tactical UAVs – 240,598 (+1,357) units
cruise missiles – 4,537 (+20) units
ships – 33 (+0) units
submarines – 2 (+0) units
automotive and fuel tanks – 89,761 (+208) units
special equipment – 4,126 (+1) units
"Only the price on the chart can show the entrance to the deal..."
Trump keeps the world guessing with the 2 week countdown. He only has 3 choices, only one of which makes any sense but there’s no second guessing this new completely unstable Trump.
The markets aren’t sure, the taco trade is not as sure as it once was (buy the dip after the market falls when Trump makes a threat because he will revise his position just before the deadline expires, causing the markets to rebound).
Will he attack, will he walk away, or will he do the deal?
Nobody knows.
Yesterday in an interview Trump hinted he might just walk away and leave the whole thing for the ingrates to sort out, it's really their problem after all. He's already done the hard part anyway apparently, regime change, got them to use up all their missiles and he bombed them into near submission. The rest of the world can do the final easy tidying up.
Or Trump could attack, more bombing, or a limited use of ground troops such as the mission that failed recently, he's been continuously building up troop numbers since the start. The final troop ship arrival is timed with the end of the 2 week ceasefire and maybe all he's doing up to now is just stalling.
Or Trump could take the deal Vance negotiated calling it the Trump deal. It's not as good a deal as the one he rejected when he started the war but people have short memories.
Iran gets sanctions relief, a return of frozen assets, and can still process nuke material for civilian use only (note that they don’t actually need any for 5 years anyway so call that a demand just for the look of the thing), meanwhile Iran reopens the Straits with free passage the same as they were before.
Not exactly a win but can be with a bit of spin.
That just leaves the perennial problem that is Netanyahu and his 30 year dream of a ‘greater’ Israel.
As things stand Trump could swing any which way, nobody knows, but the whole world is watching Trump and that's the most important thing, 3000 deaths - not so much.
And one other problem, as mentioned in the Jim Webb (ex US marine and Washington advisor) interview, is that Trump likes to go out with a bang, so a combo of any of the 3 choices is very possible such as a massive bombing raid then agree to a deal so Trump can say ‘I bombed them into submission, that’s how we got the deal’, the deal that was actually already on the table anyway.
Who knows? Wait and see.
Iran Nuclear Standoff: US Military Blockade or Negotiating Tactic? w/ Jim Webb
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Ogee wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2026 7:11 pmAs things stand Trump could swing any which way, nobody knows, but the whole world is watching Trump and that's the most important thing, 3000 deaths - not so much.
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
1 hour
The estimated total combat losses of the enemy
from 24.02.22 to 17.04.26 were approximately /
The estimated total combat losses of the enemy
from 24.02.22 to 17.04.26
personnel – about 1,316,070 (+1,000) persons
tanks – 11,870 (+4) units
armored combat vehicles – 24,400 (+9) units
artillery systems – 40,160 (+114) units
MLRS – 1,739 (+1) units
air defense systems – 1,349 (+2) units
aircraft – 435 (+0) units
helicopters – 350 (+0) units
operational–tactical UAVs – 243,008 (+2,410) units
cruise missiles – 4,549 (+12) units
ships – 33 (+0) units
submarines – 2 (+0) units
automotive and fuel tanks – 90,014 (+253) units
special equipment – 4,129 (+3) units
"Only the price on the chart can show the entrance to the deal..."
Ми повинні вірити в нашу перемогу» — 101-річна зв’язкова УПА, Марта Бліхар отримала нагороду ССО "We must believe in our victory" — 101-year-old UPA liaison Marta Blihar received the SSO award Marta Yakivna Blikhar is a 101-year-old OUN-UPA liaison officer who dedicated her life to the fight against the Soviet occupation regime. During World War II, she carried out intelligence activities, and an underground hideout operated in her village in Ternopil. For her devotion to the national idea, the veteran served 10 years in Siberian camps, enduring torture and exhausting labor, but remained loyal to her oath and the Ukrainian state.
Special Operations Forces, together with representatives of the MNK (Youth Nationalist Congress), visited the veteran to present her with the badge of the Commander of the SSO “Wolf Pack” for the successful completion of important tasks in organizing, leading, and supporting the resistance movement.
Relying on the experience and achievements of the national liberation struggle of past generations, we continue to resist the enemy in order to achieve our goal - a free, sovereign and independent Ukrainian state.
"Only the price on the chart can show the entrance to the deal..."
We keep oscillating up and down - Trump issues a threat, Trump says a deal is close - repeat ad nauseum because essentially Trump is stuck. All the while people are being killed but Trump gets no closer to that ‘win’ he needs to claim victory, and then run away.
And also all the while the global economy drifts deeper into recession, already started in Asia and is creeping ever closer to the US and Europe. The last oil shipments have just been, next comes rationing in Europe.
And the financial cost to the US climbs ever higher with the constant loss of drones costing 10s of millions each and the US’s entire war inventory being exhausted which will take years to restock. China and Russia are winning this one by default.
So the latest news this morning is that Trump says a deal is close, again. We all know by now Trump is just talking to the mirror, really a deal has always been close, Trump just has to accept the loss and sign it.
But no, he needs to go out with a bang which is what the failed operation to seize some nuke dust from under the Iranian's noses was supposed to be. Now he needs something else, but what?
Yet another ineffectual bombing campaign? Or something else using ground forces that could, due to the lack of any foresight, be the start of another Vietnam?
Trump says he will let Chinese tankers through his blockade which is big of him considering they’re running through it anyway but given that China buys nearly all of the Iranian oil being shipped what’s the blockade for then?
To stop oil going to Asia because they paid the toll? Who’s that actually punishing?
Reminder that some good can come from all this, a long term peace plan for all the middle east that includes the US, Iran, Israel and all the Gulf states is what the Iranians have been asking for for years.
Meanwhile the US is really angry that its ‘partner’ China has been ‘hoarding’ so much oil and is demanding that China releases some of its hoarded oil back onto the global market to help ease the current oil crisis that’s suddenly occurred completely out of the blue.
It’s almost as if China was half expecting Trump to do something stupid and took action to mitigate it in advance. Unbelievably China seems unwilling to comply with bestie Scott Bessant’s demands
Professor Robert Pape: US Has No Idea What is Coming NEXT!
