I waited a long time, hoped and believed that someone would understand, but in vain. This world hurts the thin strings of my intellect and degrades. No one guessed that the control of this Bayraktar was intercepted by my hackers. I have already had situations with these birds. Ah ha ha ha ha...

-DPR Joker
https://t.iss.one/JokerDPR/441

Ukraine could launch drones at the Kremlin, writes the Financial Times, citing a number of sources and experts.

They point to the inconsistency of the version that these strikes were staged by Russia itself. In this case, Moscow would have shown the inability to protect the country, which hurts Putin's authority.

"I have my doubts about a false flag operation because the political damage to Putin is enormous," said a Western diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A Western military man told the newspaper that Kyiv had the means to defeat the Kremlin.

“Ukraine has shown that it can take a commercial product off the shelf, scale it up and then creatively use it for lethal purposes. And previous Ukrainian drone attacks have shown how difficult it is to defend against such strikes,” the source said.

American military expert Michael Kofman believes that Ukraine was "at least indirectly involved" in the operation, and the goal was to "demonstrate Russia's vulnerability." At the same time, according to him, "the American administration does not always look positively at attacks on Russian territory."

At the same time, the publication cites the opinion of the director of American military intelligence, Scott Berrier. In his opinion, the device was launched from Russian territory. He says that early indications were that the drone operator was making eye contact with them.

The newspaper also recalls that American intelligence leaks spoke of the intention of the GUR to launch a series of strikes on Moscow.

Financial Times

⚡️ Ilsky Oil Refinery in the Krasnodar Territory is again attacked by a Ukrainian drone

#source

❗️Mash reports that a group of saboteurs is behind the attack on the Ilyinsky oil refinery. According to the publication, they were detained. They tried to escape from the place of emergency through the pipeline . Refinery employees say that saboteurs blew up the fifth installation with the help of IEDs. The casualties are still unknown.

Earlier there was information about the UAV attack.

#source:
https://t.iss.one/milinfolive/100199

The volume of money transfers from Russia to Kazakhstan in March 2023 amounted to 12.2 billion tenge ($27.5 million), an increase of 168% for the year, or 2.7 times, according to statistics from the National Bank of Kazakhstan. In dollars, the growth was 171%. Data includes transfers through the money transfer systems "Zolotaya Korona", Contact, Unistream, and others. One of the main reasons for the growth of remittances is the relocation of citizens from Russia, the opening of cards in Kazakhstan, and the growing popularity of the service of buying certain goods abroad that were not available in Russia due to Western sanctions.

https://t.iss.one/rusbrief/114422

Brussels is set to use funds normally reserved for building roads and airports in poorer EU states to boost weapons production across the bloc.

On Wednesday, the EU took the unprecedented step of ending a long-held ban on using resources from its central budget to provide cash to the arms industry.

It is part of the EU’s €2 billion (£1.76 billion) armament programme to manufacture one million 155mm artillery shells to supply Ukraine and replenish national stockpiles that have been depleted in the wake of Russia’s invasion last year.

Under the scheme, dubbed “ASAP”, the European Commission would release €500 million (£440 million) to help ramp up production capacity at factories producing ammunition and missiles inside the EU.

Member states would then be allowed to supplement that money from the EU’s so-called cohesion funds – programmes that are used to develop poorer parts of the bloc and connect them with their richer neighbours.

The Telegraph

For a different perspective on the "shell hunger" situation, there's a new post from NabrezhnyeIntel:

⚡️On Prigozhin's Rant:

1. The issue with ammunition and supply is being resolved: The amount of ammunition supplied to Wagner has not changed at all; it is that Wagner has continued to expand and has many more artillery units then it used to, and is requiring more and more shells. This means that the MOD is always atleast a week behind in what the actual figure of shells is needed. The MOD is currently working on doubling the supply of shells; the issue is simply logistics, artillery is being burnt through quicker then trucks can supply. This is not an acute shell shortage. The intensification of fighting is now creating a larger demand for Artillery. This is not an issue of greediness or selfishness.

3. Ukrainians have increased their firing of artillery, yes; but they are burning through a significant portion of the entire Army's stockpile. The AFU's stockpile is almost at its lowest since the beginning of the SMO, Ukrainians are stealing reserves of Artillery shells from fronts such as Kherson and Kharkov. If the pace of artillery shelling is continued, the entire Ukrainian army will have to introduce a severe shell stoppage.

4. Wagner losses to Ukrainian losses are 1:7; for every one hundred men Wagner losses, around 700 Ukrainians lives are lost. Wagner employees tactics which are very artillery heavy (which explains the shortage) but also limits losses. Wagner has always employed these tactics and they usually bring great results. These tactics also mean that more artillery usage equals less loss of life.

5. In the past 26 days, 1,000 employees of the Wagner PMC have lost their lives, however, Ukrainians suffer casualties ranging between 5,000 and 13,000 in the past month or so just in Artemovsk alone. Our guys die heroes.

6. A quick fix to this would be to target Ukrainian Artillery and MLRS assets more then Artillery used in actual offensive operations, this would soon drain the capabilities of the AFU to fire Artillery and would allow more shells to be allocated for offensive operations in the future. Russian units in the Krasnoye front too often are targeting AFU acculumations within Chasovoy Yar quite frequently.

https://t.iss.one/NabrezhnyeIntel/1341

Keep in mind that we ourselves are not able to ascertain what the truth of the situation is on the ground in many cases, and we seek only to report facts as well as viewpoints of various analysts. All opinions and analysis should be valued on its merits, and the discussion should be as civil as possible between those of us who are not fighting in the trenches.

"The government could pay Ukrainians an allowance to encourage them to return home."  Ireland is already willing to pay migrants from Ukraine to leave the country

"The government should explore the possibility of paying a social allowance to Ukrainians as a way to encourage them to return home when the temporary protection directive ends. Protection is granted to Ukrainians until March 2024, but it could also be extended until March 2025. Another option the government would have to consider is granting residency to some Ukrainians. According to a recent study conducted by Ukrainian Action in Ireland, among recipients of temporary protection in Ireland, 41% have decided to stay permanently, 32% are unsure of their plans, and 24% intend to return to Ukraine as soon as possible. EU countries will have to either support Ukrainians to stay in the EU after temporary protection or help them return home and rebuild Ukraine, or perhaps some combination of both approaches."

Irish Examiner

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban believes that only in a fairy tale can there be a situation in which Russia will be defeated and she will come to terms with it.

#source

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan could potentially shut down production of the world's largest chipmaker, cutting the global economy by up to $1 trillion annually in the first few years, U.S. intelligence said.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said advanced semiconductor chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. are used in 90 percent of "almost every category of electronic device worldwide."

If TSMC were to stop producing these chips in the event of a Chinese invasion, "it would have a huge global financial impact, which I think would be somewhere between $600 billion and $1 trillion a year for the first few years," Haynes said.

According to her, it's going to hit both the U.S. and Chinese economies.
 
https://www.reuters.com/technology/top-us-spy-says-chinese-invasion-halting-taiwan-chip-production-would-be-2023-05-04/

🇬🇧 Reuters: The Interim President of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, said that Russia has become an important strategic ally. Traore also denies the presence of Russian mercenaries in the country. In a recent TV interview, Traore confirmed that Russia is a major supplier of military equipment and a strategic ally of Burkina Faso. He also mentioned that the country has new forms of cooperation with other allies. After rising anti-French sentiment, France was recently asked to leave Burkina Faso. Traore stressed that the departure of the French army does not mean that France is no longer an ally. However, he did not share the details of cooperation with Russia. There were reports that Russian mercenaries were in Burkina Faso, but Traore denied these claims. He stated that the country was fighting alone, and Wagner's presence was invented to harm the image of the state. Unrest in Burkina Faso and neighboring countries led to two coups last year that failed to stop attacks fueled by Islamist armed groups.

New quarters of Mariupol 🇷🇺

Mariupol is being rebuilt at the Soviet pace! That is, as quickly as possible.

#source