Notes and Essays -- John Brown

 From Quora Another Point of View ·  Following Posted by  Brent Cooper   6h ; see also UKRAINE CONTINUES EFFORTS TO ISOLATE CRIMEA For the last few weeks Ukraine has been isolating Crimea. And in turn isolating the troops in Southern Ukraine who are being supplied from Crimea. On Saturday, Ukrainian military conducted a series of strikes. These strikes were aimed at Russian military logistics and Russian military operations.. A primary target was a bridge over the Henichesk Strait. This bridge represents a primary route used by Russia to supply its military in southern Ukraine from Russian occupied Crimea. This is the fifth bridge from Crimea to the mainland that has been hit recently. Because the front lines are close to the bridges, the bridges are easy targets. In addition to the bridge, other military targets were his as well. . These strikes include a hit a Pantsir-S anti-aircraft system in the Zaporizhzhia region. In addition, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) co...

Lines at gas stations are a growing headace for the onsequences of the four-year-old war [ original article contains an illustrative film:   Footage shared online this week shows smoke and flames spewing from a crucial Moscow refinery after a series of drone strikes. SOCIAL MEDIA/REUTERS ]  By  Alexander Osipovich The Wall Street Journal , June 20, 2026 8:44 am ET original article contains links Ukraine is pounding Russian oil refineries with long-range drone strikes, leading to restrictions on fuel sales, surging gasoline prices and huge lines of cars outside gas stations hundreds of miles from the front lines. This week, drones repeatedly hit a refinery in Moscow that produces more than one-third of the fuel supply for the Russian capital and the surrounding region. Videos of the latest attack posted to social media on Thursday showed a massive fireball erupting from a storage-tank explosion and several other fires raging across the complex. It was the latest in more ...

 from Quora Another Point of View ·   Following Posted by  Brent Cooper   11h ; see also ZELENSKYY BELIEVES PUTIN WILL ESCALATE ATTACKS AS RUSSIA WEAKENS Zelenskyy is right. It is already happening. “Zelensky warned Ukrainians that Russia may increase missile and drone strikes as Putin’s position weakens politically, militarily and economically. He urged residents to use shelters and said Ukraine had secured additional Patriot missile commitments from allies.” We have seen the sheer number of attacks on civilians escalate. About 135 missiles launched at Ukraine in January. In February 2026, some 288 missiles were launched. This is more than double January’s total In addition, February included multiple very large strike packages, often combining missiles with 400+ drones in a single night, showing a shift toward massed attacks rather than small daily strikes . By spring 2026: Russia is launching coordinated barrages (missiles + hundreds of drones together) Example:...

  Ukrainian drone attacks have achieved breakthroughs, but only ballistic missiles can push Russia to reconsider its war objectives, military experts and officials say. An oil refinery in Moscow after a Ukrainian drone attack on Thursday, in an image from social media. Credit... via Reuters By Constant Méheut Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine The New York Times , June 19, 2026, 9:15 a.m. ET Original article contains links Ukrainians have spent the past day flooding social media with footage of their army’s large-scale drone attack on Moscow. To many, the images of black smoke billowing over the Russian capital are proof that Ukraine is now able to respond in kind to Russia’s air assaults — or, as President Volodymyr Zelensky put it, “If Ukraine burns, then your Moscow will burn as well.” But the celebrations over Thursday’s attack obscure a more complicated reality. However  effective its drone arsenal may be, Ukraine still lacks the weapon that has long underpinned Russia’s most...