Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[ColonelCassad] A natural barrier in Ukraine is the Dnieper River, which divides the country into 2 parts. The main hostilities (with the exception of the Nikolaev-Kherson front) take place on the territory of eastern Ukraine (left-bank).
Accordingly, the most active grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is located on the left bank, and the transport infrastructure (bridges) laid across the Dnieper River is used to supply it.
To date, the Dnieper River is crossed by 25 bridges:
▪️ 9 road bridges (2 of which are also used as a metro bridge);
▪️ 6 bridges are affiliated with hydroelectric power plants (some bridges have railway tracks);
▪️ 4 railway bridges;
▪️ 7 combined bridges (road and rail);
▪️ 1 pedestrian bridge.
Of these, only three are controlled by the RF Armed Forces.
Transport routes passing through the hydroelectric power station must be disabled by strikes on crossings above the locks where necessary (a bridge departs from the Dnieper hydroelectric power station, which simply needs to be destroyed).
Although the Podolsko-Voskresensky bridge in Kyiv has not been completed yet, the photographs show that its technical condition makes it possible to transport equipment and personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine across it.
A separate question about the pedestrian bridge in Kyiv: it is definitely impossible to transport equipment through it, only personnel. You can consider the expediency of preserving it for the needs of the inhabitants of Kyiv. Or not think and also destroy.
It is necessary to take the most responsible approach to protecting the bridges that are controlled by the RF Armed Forces: the destruction of these bridges will actually cut off supplies to our group of troops on the right bank of the Dnieper and create threats to the capture of Kherson. And it takes time to build pontoon crossings.
▪️Sovmeschennye bridges:
➖Amursky bridge - 48.485541, 35.025935
➖Vantovy bridge - 47.842485, 35.085464
➖Darnitsky bridge - 50.415142, 30.583059
➖Kaydaksky bridge - 48.497858, 34.965484
➖Kryukovskiy bridge — 49.051567, 33.424058
➖Preobrazhensky Bridge - 47.845719, 35.084378 (hit on April 21, technical condition unknown. This is a big nut for the Russians to crack, so I am not so certain they can do it. Destroying bridges only inconveniences a modern army. Both sides have plenty of bridging elements at their disposal.
A good strategy in my personal opinion would have been for the Russian air assault brigades to capture all the river crossings. But, alas, not enough forces, and too many crossings.
#3
Question for the more tactically experienced Rantburgers. Would it be better to destroy a bridge:
(a) Before invaders could use it at all
(b) When half a column had crossed, cutting invaders in two
(c) After most of a column had crossed, cutting them off from logistics.
I would have thought (b) but the recent Russian columns stalling out had me wondering if having a columns worth of vehicles in the way of bridge repair might be a good thing.
Commentary by Russian military blogger Andrey Chervonets
The Russian president ordered not to risk the lives of Russian soldiers and officers in vain.
Azovstal will be blocked so that the “fly does not fly” and the militants remaining on the territory of the industrial zone will be asked to lay down their arms.
Siege is also an effective method of fighting. And one of the oldest. And by the way, the cancellation of the "frontal" assault on Azovstal is not at all the cancellation of air, missile and artillery strikes on Azovstal.
The dung workers are now eating their last horseradish without salt in the cellars of Azovstal. And stick your nose out of these cellars are not able to. The leadership of "Azov" - Prokopenko, Palamar, as well as Western instructors, it is desirable for us to take them alive. These are very interesting interlocutors for our investigating authorities.
At Azovstal, a silence regime is declared daily from 14:00 to 16:00, all hostilities are completely stopped and humanitarian corridors are opened for the exit of civilians, who allegedly may be on the territory of the plant. But somehow no one uses this mode. If none of the civilians leaves the territory during this time, then either they are not there, or they are held hostage.
Mariupol itself, with the exception of part of the plant's territory, has been taken under full control. Via Russia military journalist Boris Rozhin. Here is the text of the meeting between Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin and his defense minister, General Sergey Shoigu, where the news of the siege of Azovstal was announced. All in English.
#4
^ Ukraine forces stretched to the limit also. About now they must realize they are being ground down in every area of operations. This conflict was never a short term event. I revived conflict, a borrowed word from Vietnam days.
#5
The defense must be fiercer than the Putinists expected.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/22/2022 8:09 Comments ||
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#6
It's a fortress designed and built by the Soviets and the defenders are trapped in it...neutralized if you will. Let them stay down in their nuke proof tunnels as long as they like. When they run out of food and water it will become a tomb.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/22/2022 12:09 Comments ||
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[Washington Examiner] The heated real estate market that has seen home prices across the country soar to record highs since the start of the pandemic is showing early signs of cooling, according to experts and recent data.
Sales of existing homes nationwide were down 2.7% between February and March, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales decreased 4.5%, and home showings fell 19% from the same time last year. According to the group's most recent data, pending home sales slipped by 4.1%, too.
"After two years of super-heated market conditions, home sales are retreating back to pre-Covid days," Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, told the Washington Examiner magazine by email.
Redfin, an online real estate brokerage, reported declines for March as well, finding that the number of home sales had dropped 3.7% since February and 8.1% since last year.
The early signs of a housing market cooldown follow the central bank’s decision last month to increase interest rates for the first time since 2018 to tamp down 40-year inflation highs across the board on goods and services. The Federal Reserve has signaled further interest rate hikes will come in the months ahead.
As a result, mortgage rates have surpassed 5% for the first time in more than a decade, increasing the financial burden of buying a home and pushing some homebuyers to reconsider their plans, experts said.
#1
House across the street sold the moment it went on the market. House being built up the street is going up slower than the Great Pyramid.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/22/2022 3:02 Comments ||
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#2
New construction costs are exorbitant, due obviously to escalating material costs. This, along with high interest rates are beginning to have an impact on the housing market.
#3
I sold a couple of nice properties a couple years prior to the pandemic. They sold in hours or days of the listing. The market was tight for homes less than $300K. Nowadays builders can't build a decent hours for that price.
#4
A Duluth Ga 3/2 house that we purchased for $125,000 updated to 5/3 adding a finished basement suite and replaced the roof 10 years ago sold for $124,000 (after the Obama Housing Crash).
The same house was recently on the BIDEN market for $210,000 with no mentioned upgrades. It did not sell.
#6
Trying to buy a place in Texas. Interested in a new house...
Builders have resorted to setting options like color, flooring, siding and buyers can take it or leave it. No 'design centres'.
Builders have a waiting list of people waiting for a particular type of house.
Builders up their prices often. One said that they raise their prices after every 2-3 sales. Other than that prices go up every 2 weeks.
Builders don't contract a house until the build reaches a certain point (currently, I hear, when the electrical meter is attached) and even then not until they are _sure_ they can meet the schedule with the supply issues. As well as lender requirements.
Its Crazy.
#7
Back in 2016 existing house prices in the Plano suburb of Dallas were going up 1% a month, according to trailing daughter #2. She and her husband didn’t even try for new construction.
[Popular Mechanics] Scientists believe there could be an "anti-universe" somewhere out there that looks like the mirror image of our own universe, reciprocating almost everything we do. If this theory holds true, it could explain the presence of dark matter.
First, some background: the "Big Bang" is a collective term that includes a variety of theories studied by cosmologists, the scientists who try to rewind the clock as close to the very beginning of the universe as possible. Most agree that matter exploded forth, but there are different opinions on, for example, whether the temperature was extremely hot or absolute-zero cold at that initial moment.
There are also disagreements about what may have happened prior to the bang itself. Could it be that what we call the Big Bang was the inflection point of an even bigger bounce in progress? Think of the point when you bounce on the trampoline and your feet almost touch the ground beneath—then imagine only seeing the subsequent bounce upward; it’s meaningless without the first, downward half of the bounce!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/22/2022 19:37 Comments ||
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#13
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/22/2022 19:39 Comments ||
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#14
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/22/2022 19:40 Comments ||
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#15
"What's Star Trek?"
"It's just Perry Mason,
Except they try cases in space
On a colorful screen--"
"Lookit, Della Street's green!"
"And Paul Drake's got fake ears..."
[they embrace]
"An' dat kiss starts my racist heart racin'!"
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.