[MAIL] Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov - a close ally of Vladimir Putin - is reported to be seriously ill with kidney problems amid fears of 'poisoning'.
The fanatical pro-war zealot who has advocated using nuclear weapons against Ukraine is rumoured to have summoned a leading doctor from the United Arab Emirates because he 'does not trust' Moscow doctors.
The kidney illness accounted for Kadyrov's surprising absence from Putin's state of the nation speech last month, several opposition sources claimed. It was also said it has led to his recent 'bloated' appearance, as seen at a recent meeting in his palace in Chechen capital Grozny with Denis Pushilin, head of the invaded Donetsk People's Republic.
While Kadyrov, 46, is one of Putin's closest allies, the Chechen strongman - reportedly a father of 14 with three current wives - has strongly attacked the running of the war, especially by the Russian defence ministry and certain generals.
The claims suggest Kadyrov may have been poisoned, a fate which reportedly befell his close ally Major-General Apti Alaudinov, 50, last month in an 'attempted assassination'.
[THEDRIVE] With little fanfare, Ukraine has developed and used a guided artillery rocket in combat with a longer range and heavier warhead than the vaunted Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) munitions provided by the U.S. and allies.
Called the Vilkha-M, it is a modified 7.6m (25-foot) long Soviet BM-30 Smerch multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) artillery rocket.
The Vilkha-M has a range of 110km (68 miles) and a 300mm, 485-pound warhead that can hit targets with great accuracy, Ivan Vinnyk, first deputy head of the National Association of Ukrainian Defense Industries, told The War Zone Tuesday.
By comparison, the GMLRS munitions - fired by the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) provided to Ukraine - have a range of up to about 80km (about 50 miles) and a 227mm, 200-pound warhead.
"Yes, the Vilkha has been used in combat," Vinnyk said Tuesday during the U.S.-Ukraine Security Dialogue XV conference held at the National Press Club in Washington. He could not disclose the exact location of where the Vilkha-M missiles were used.
In subsequent conversations on Wednesday, Vinnyk told The War Zone that the Vilkha-M modification program began in 2018 and that about 100 units have been produced.
They were first used in combat in May, 2022, he added.
Their precision, he said, is boosted by so-called "gas rudders" - scores of small holes emitting propellant - used to direct the missile on the target via GPS. While the Vilkha-M is said to be quite accurate and a precision munition, just how accurate it is isn't disclosed at this time.
Gas rudders on the Vilkha-M rocket help guide the warhead onto the target via GPS. (Photo courtesy of Ivan Vinnyk)
Questions about the use of the Vilkha-M were raised last week after the occupied Azov Sea port city of Mariupol - some 50 miles away from the nearest Ukrainian units at the time - was hit on successive nights.
While it is possible that GMLRS were used in those attacks, it is not inconceivable to think that the Vilkha-M may have been, but Vinnyk would not divulge that information.
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03/04/2023 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] Ukrainian armed forces suffer from a deficit of artillery, ammunition, warplanes and tanks, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said Friday. Speaking during a joint presser with his Latvian counterpart Egils Levits in Lvov, Zelensky claimed that, due to the shortage of weapons and ammunition, the West must speed up arms shipments to Ukraine.
"Artillery is the number one thing that we need. Both systems and ammunition, shells in large amounts," Zelensky said.
He claimed that Ukraine needs artillery not to strike Russian territory, but to take back regions, which Kiev still continues to consider its own. In addition, Zelensky stated a deficit of warplanes.
"We need planes. Not talks or promises, just to train our guys and hand over planes," he noted.
The Ukrainian president also acknowledged the lack of tanks in the Ukrainian forces.
"I believe that, whatever happens, we will obtain a tank army," he said. "Our armed forces are already being trained, it will happen soon. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... there is a certain deficit."
Answering a question from a news hound on how arms shipments to Kiev could be sped up, Zelensky noted that it is necessary to "speak publicly" about shortages.
"And the countries that help us can publicly support shipments of various types of weapons. There are no more secrets as to what weapons we have," he said.
The news hound, who asked the question, disclosed that she talked to Ukrainian servicemen in Artyomovsk (Bakhmut). According to the news hound, the servicemen told her about shortage of weapons, ammunition, warplanes and helicopters.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2023 00:00 ||
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ZURICH/BERLIN, March 3 (Reuters) - Germany has asked Switzerland to sell it some of its mothballed Leopard 2 tanks, the Swiss and German governments said on Friday, in a deal that could allow Western countries to increase military aid to Ukraine.
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.
[MAIL] Chechen warlord 
