I Mentioned It Once...

 ... I will repeat again, when Russians invoke God, that means shit got really serious--those opposing better run. That means it is metaphysical and the latest recruitment video by Russian MoD is a clear challenge to the West's satanism on display in Paris recently.  

It is a famous Russian quote from Alexander Suvorov (which in itself has roots in Europe) during his crossing of Alps in 1799: "We are Russians, God is with us". So, here we are--a universal language understood by most of humanity and an open acknowledgement of the metaphysical fight against the West. So, it is very indicative of the present situation the world is in. 

In related news, yet another boy from MGIMO makes a conclusion on INF issue while having about zero competencies. While correctly chastising Trump for quitting INF Treaty he arrives to the conclusion which is typical for people of his background: 

Eventually, the consequences of US missile deployments will depend on whether the military or the symbolic aspect comes to the forefront. If the US limits itself to deploying a small number to symbolize its “boots on the ground”, there is a chance of preventing the new arms race at an early stage. However, if hundreds of missiles will be deployed in order to ensure Washington’s total operational dominance, there is a risk of an unprecedented escalation – which, of course, it would be best to avoid.

I have news for him and his "research" fellows from the same club of nincompoops who infest all kinds of "think-tanks":

1. He evidently doesn't understand what "operational", let alone "operational dominance" are. It is expected from people with no particular education and whiteboard professional "experiences" which preclude them from grasping military balance and warfare of the XXI century;

2. That is why this Chekov guy didn't get the message that far from being able to deploy "hundreds" of missiles, the only tool the US has in Europe is to place there the "Typhoon" thingy which is truck based good ol' MK-41 VLS for... good ol' and nearing obsolescence TLAMs, BGM-109 Tomahawks, you know. Ah yes, and this LRHW which the US doesn't have and will not have for some time. 

Chekov, obviously doesn't understand that the US is not even in the same league in terms of RUK/ROK with Russia, not to mention a dramatic mitigating factor of Russia's Air and Anti-missile Defense. But serious military and engineering incompetence is expected from these guys. They could sell their BS as "expertise" in the XX century, today--it is packaging "political science" BS into "product" and passing it as "analysis", which it is not. And I don't even mention here the fact that Russia outproduces COMBINED West in terms of stand off weapons by a colossal margin and those weapons are truly monsters whose combat-proven capabilities are simply beyond the reach of the combined West. Well, I will repeat again--ANY serious modern geopolitical analysis requires today a very serious military or intelligence background, and even those are not guarantee against being stupid. The faster these "researchers" with degrees in International Relations, Journalism or Political "Science" get the message--the better it will be for the overall mood of the public being bombarded with their incompetent BS. As per most, not all, of Russian "Americanists"--they are academic failures precisely because they don't have the grasp of foundational principle of geopolitics--balance of power, which is a first derivative of military-industrial capability of the nation. 

As Schumpeter warned about it in 1943:

All those who are unemployed or unsatisfactorily employed or unemployable drift into the vocations in which standards are least definite or in which aptitudes and acquirements of a different order count. They swell the host of intellectuals in the strict sense of the term whose numbers hence increase disproportionately.  

Mr. Chekov should read this classic work. It may help him in understanding his own lack of qualifications for passing judgement on anything military or applied geopolitics related. Those require a much higher levels of education and intellect.

New (Old) Shtick By 404...

 ... army of TSIPSO paid trolls and even greater army of a completely brainwashed 404ers. They continue to hang around all kinds of Russian media resources posting only BS which has no effect anymore with its FUD content, so, they resort to all kinds of "commentaries" like this: "Sure, Russia has shot down two ATACMS, but if that would have been 10, 20 (40, 150, 1000...  make your choice), Russia would have been defeated." Obviously, the simple idea that if a grandmother had the balls she would have been a grandfather (not in the combined West, though) is not in the wide use by poor 404ers, but who cares. So, Russian MoD reports today:

В течение прошедших суток перехвачены две оперативно-тактические ракеты ATACМS производства США, зенитная ракета С-200, переделанная для поражения наземных целей, а также две противорадиолокационные ракеты HARM и два реактивных снаряда системы залпового огня HIMARS производства США.

Translation:  Over the past 24 hours, two US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, an S-200 anti-aircraft missile converted to engage ground targets, as well as two HARM anti-radar missiles and two US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems were intercepted.

It is nearly impossible to explain to the average 404er or any "analyst" from Institute for "Study" of War (ISW) that ATACMS is a standard target for all Russia's mid and long-range air defense complexes. In fact, as was the case with HIMARS, Russians already noted that good ol' Tochka U is a more difficult target. Russian AD still managed to shoot down a bulk of it, even with short range AD complexes such as Tor-M2. But, but...  

In an interview, Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin told POLITICO Western countries needed to accelerate production of missiles, shells and military drones as close to frontlines as possible. “The free world should be producing enough to protect itself," Kamyshin said, on a mission to the German capital to persuade arms producers to invest in war-ravaged Ukraine. "That's why we have to produce more and better weapons to stay safe." Current factory capacity was woeful, he argued. “If you get together all the worldwide capacities for weapons production, for ammunition production, that will be not enough for this war,” said Kamyshin of the state of play along Ukraine's more than 1,000 kilometers of active frontline.

Sure. Let them "invest" into 404 and then see how many 3M14s will it take to level those "investments" back with the ground. In fact, I would suggest appointing Kamyshin to the post of Economics Minister of Germany, he'll show them Krauts how to run economy, wink, wink.

Good God!

No, I mean it! Baghdad Bob is having the time of his life, watching this. 

The title of this surreal video is: Blinken says Ukraine has reclaimed about half of land Russia seized.  Get it? Well, here is yesterday's map by Russian MoD. These guys are good at strategy, operations and situational awareness, they are also extremely good at math and geography--all those things which are not taught in all those pseudo-academic degree mills in Ivy League humanities where people like Blinken go to get their liberal arts (a euphemism for absence of serious skills) degrees. 

There are two shysters in this video--a genuine ignoramus and uncultured hack Zakaria and, of course, Tony Blinken. Not only they have zero math skills, both of these "professionals" sit and humiliate their (their?) country in a front of the whole world, because unlike Blinken everyone knows the real deal and the map reflects it. But I repeat, the only thing these sociopaths know is how to lie and PR, for the sake of own promotion within deep recesses of bureaucracy which can't do anything to stop, in fact it accelerates it, a demise of what remains of America's nation.

Confirmation By Russian MoD.

Per MoD TG:

По достоверно подтвержденным данным, 16 мая в результате удара гиперзвуковым ракетным комплексом «Кинжал» в городе Киев были поражены и полностью уничтожены многофункциональная радиолокационная станция, а также 5 пусковых установок зенитного ракетного комплекса Patriot производства США.

Translation: According to reliably confirmed data, on May 16, as a result of a strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kiev, a multifunctional radar station was hit and completely destroyed, as well as 5 launchers of the US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.

Looks like the lives of NATO personnel in Command Post have been spared, for now. As per this:

and these: 

In plain language (after "damage assessment", wink, wink) it means it is a complete goner. So, now we know, and even inbreds from UK tabloids are getting the message. Next thing you know, they will acknowledge that the Red Army took Berlin in 1945.

Here We Go Again...

... even in this blog "specialists" in operations demand actions ranging from annihilation of Kiev to removing Russia's political top. I also want to reiterate here--I don't read and do not use ANY TG channels, especially by such "experts" as Boris Rozhin (aka Colonel Cassad) and his ilk, but only use confirmed information from Russia's MoD or people in the US who are military and intel professionals with the connections and access to reliable data. Here is what we know and was confirmed: one Mi-8 and one SU-34 have been lost (in Russian), very likely, but not 100%, due to use of the manpads by the VSU diversionary group near the border of Bryansk Oblast with 404. Read my lips--this activity WILL continue, because it is the only real track on which NATO can gain some PR success and deliver some pin-pricks. It is primarily the job for FSB. Yes, it is tragic to lose the crews and aircraft, but that happens once in a while--it is SMO, people die. I wonder where those media ass-holes (Zatulin, Starikov and other "strategists") who advocated for letting Ukrainians into Russia freely are now. Effectively, they advocated for importing sabotage networks of GUR and SBU. 

But by far more interesting is this:

МОСКВА, 13 мая - РИА Новости. Минобороны России сообщило, что накануне боевыми самолетами воздушных сил Украины был нанесен удар поставленными Великобританией ракетами Storm Shadow по Луганску.Пострадали мирные жители, в том числе 6 детей. Наносивший ракетный удар по Луганску самолет Су-24 и прикрывавший его истребитель Миг-29 воздушных сил Украины сбиты.

Translation: MOSCOW, May 13 - RIA Novosti. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on the eve of combat aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, a British-supplied Storm Shadow missile attacked Luhansk. Civilians, including 6 children, were injured. The Su-24 plane, which launched a missile attack on Luhansk, and the MiG-29 fighter jet of the Ukrainian Air Force, which covered it, were shot down.

 

So, we know now that they did integrate Storm Shadows with SU-24s. OK, that opens the path down the slippery slope for some UK assets being targeted--how and when, I don't know. As I am on record constantly--it is all primarily PR and trying to "accelerate" this, now proverbial "counter-offensive". The level of BS in media is off the scale, including an openly Russian misinformation sewer such as Kommersnat, are risible. Here is NYT:

OUTSIDE CHASIV YAR, Ukraine — The Ukrainian army is advancing in attacks near the eastern city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian commanders said Friday, in fighting that has shifted the front line only slightly but is exposing fissures, confusion and alarm among Russia’s forces in the war. Russia’s pro-war bloggers were quick to claim that Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive had begun, but Ukrainian officials downplayed the advances and described them in more local terms. Ukrainian soldiers broke through Russian lines south of Bakhmut on Wednesday, they said, and then exploited that breach, assaulting Russian forces near the city and threatening Russian flanks to the north and south.

And who those Russian "pro-war bloggers" might be? Well, I repeat--a bunch of media shysters like Cassad, Interslava and other creeps whose delirium is actively used, including histrionics by Prigozhin, for creating a caricature. Or get a load of this:

Details emerge of Army Special Forces’ battle with Russian mercenaries.

I mean, I read a lot of purely military BS in my life--Tom Clancy's writing being an Exhibit A of this--and it is only natural for professional military environment sometimes to exaggerate, but reducing oneself to outright wet fantasies against the background of the NATO's strategic defeat--boy, how desperate one has to become to provide some spirit-lifting BS. Read my lips again: Wagner is a light infantry specifically honed for urban combat, which they do extremely well, and ARE NOT combined arms formation. In the open, they are no match for any combined arms formation of the US Army. Wow, the US Army "defeated" what amounts to a unit of light infantry. Lets add this to its glorious "victories" of this army in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan et all. Plus, the US Army never fought anything like SMO, not even close and it is not designed for it, because it never fought near peer enemy in its modern history. Pathetic. Here is your Saturday primer. 

How Many Times To Repeat...

.... including for RT who got caught--DO NOT READ TG Channels and learn to distinguish, even between "official" reporters, who are those 2-3% of people who do their job professionally and report the reality and who are, as Alexander Rogers coined the term "voenkurva" (Polish friends will easily understand this)--kurwa (or kurva) being, of course, a bitch.  So, voenkurva is a military bitch, which is also a derivative of voenkor, which stands for voennyi (military) correspondent. 

The Russian Defense Ministry has denied rumors of a large-scale Ukrainian counterattack, noting in a statement late on Thursday that the situation along most of the frontline appeared to be relatively calm, with the only heavy fighting in and near Artyomovsk, also known as Bakhmut. “Reports by certain Telegram channels of ‘breaches of defenses’ in several places along the line of contact are not accurate,” the ministry said around 11 pm Moscow time. “The general situation in the area of the special military operation is under control.” According to the Russian military, the last remaining part of Artyomovsk was being stormed with air force and artillery support, while there was an “ongoing battle” to repel the attack of Ukrainian units in the direction of Malo-Ilyinkovka, northwest of the city, with “heavy enemy casualties in lives and equipment.”

But, RT, you should know by now that those "certain Telegram channels" are "manned" by people who monetize hype and raw emotions, who do it for their own egos, especially having zero serious military education, such as overwhelming majority of "reporters", or being straight up SBU, TZIPSO and NATO supported purveyors of BS. So, as with Kinzhal BS, we now call company-sized recon in force an "offensive". 

Ukrainian troops attempted two company-sized attacks towards Kremennaya but were repulsed. Three scouting parties were defeated further north, near Kupyansk. The ministry first said there had been no “active operations” on Kherson or Zaporozhye fronts in the south, but later published a list of Ukrainian losses on the Kherson front from Russian artillery, and reported shooting down 12 HIMARS rockets and a Su-25 ground attack jet.  

But let's fast rewind a few hours back. Before wholesale debunking of this "news" and "reports".

Ukrainian forces have breached Russian defenses northwest of the city of Artyomovsk in Donbass, Russian war correspondent Evgeny Poddubny reported on Thursday evening. He believes it’s the beginning of Kiev’s much-touted spring offensive. The attackers appear to have launched a series of simultaneous strikes north and south of Artyomovsk, also known as Bakhmut, several other Russian war reporters added. The city has been the scene of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops for months.

Evgeny Poddubny, who became "war correspondent" and has degree in psychology--and read my lips--CANNOT have any idea of "offensive" or "retreat" or anything else, because he simply has no idea what type and volume of combat information is pouring to the command posts in Moscow, Rostov-on-Don or staffs of frontline formations, because his only skill is to confabulate and to gather rumors from the frontline and do photo-ops with high ranking people. NO serious operational level officer will even talk to this guy, let alone divulge any kind of operational data which is highly classified. Very few of those military correspondents on Russian side deserve professional applause for their integrity and professional attitude to their main work--actual reporting. 

That is why, speaking of me personally, I do not have any TG channels, I do not read them, with the exception of channels of MoD, Maria Zakharova and a very few other people I trust professionally and personally. And I am talking about a number of those TG channels which could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And here is the difference--I know my limitations, I know what I DO NOT know and I established this posture long time ago. Maybe, just maybe, because unlike Poddubny and his ilk I was a bearer of Form 1A clearance and know what staff operations and communications with even Brigade or District operational officers are. Sadly, we seldom get Eva Bartletts, Marat Khairulins or Graham Phillipses in this world, for some reason we get "psychologists" by trade who, quoting a General from famous dialogue in Diplomatic Rail Car with Stirlietz describing Hitler stated: "A lower rank who stole general's uniform boots. He decided that one can fight without studying in military academies."(c) 

Here, the English CC are wrong, they translated low rank as "junior officer", which is wrong both linguistically and factually--Hitler never was a junior officer, he was a Gefreiter. Hence his suspicion and complex of inferiority to Wehrmacht officers with serious military academic background and C2 experience on the division and higher levels. Now, try today to explain to modern "voenkurva" what the algorithm of Commander's Decision is, forget division or brigade, try regiment for warmup, and what goes into it and then see how those "strategists" will melt away. Many already did, more to go. And that is why SMO provides highly effective treatment against many who lost their professional and human integrity. They forgot an old Russian (universal, really) proverb that "the position doesn't make the man, but the man makes the position."  

Larry Doing Larry's Thing. Great Analysis.

Especially against the background of Ukie Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov suddenly discovering one million strong army in 404 and announcing (right, I kid you not--he announced it) the coming counter-offensive to retake South. I don't know what kind a potent shit they are taking now in Kiev, but thankfully Larry Johnson is here for us not to scratch our heads in vain, trying to understand what Kiev is up to. So Larry opens:

The average person trying to decipher the meaning from the daily briefing of the Russian Minister of Defense (aka MOD) is likely overwhelmed by the long list of Ukrainian military units being hit and the variety of weapon systems employed against the Ukrainians. Let me break it down for you. I have taken the liberty of putting the identities of the Ukrainian units and their locations into a spreadsheet. The result is eye-opening and, I think, will help you grasp what Russia is doing.

Then he proceeds with some numbers based on Russian MoD. And he concludes correctly with this:

Russia is playing its cards very close to its vest. While the MOD briefings provide a handy laundry list for tracking the kinds of losses the Ukrainians are suffering in men and materiel, Russia is not telling the full story of the devastation they are unleashing on Ukraine’s military. But the goal set by Putin–i.e., demilitarization–is being realized. Up to this point Russia has not targeted the command headquarters of Ukraine’s military in Kiev. If the U.S. and NATO persist in ramping up the weaponry they send to Ukraine, Russia has the ability to hit the top level command posts. If Russia does this they will likely kill and wound U.S. and other NATO officers. Russia has avoided launching such an attack, but if U.S. supplied weapons continue to kill civilians in the Donbass Russian patience may reach its end and they will send a devastating message.

I also want to stress, again, that bar some obvious high-end involvement by Russian combat aviation, stand-off weapons, obvious state-of-the-art ISR and artillery, it is clear that by now the bulk of fighting on the ground is performed by LDNR forces and Russia's National Guard (Rosgvardiya) and main forces, are being held in reserved and are used very sparingly. So, I guess Ukie 1 million-strong army is about to get acquainted with all the firepower of Russian Army, wink, wink. 

In related news, somebody started to circulate the picture allegedly from Germany, stating that more and more similar banners appear all throughout Germany. Can our German friends confirm or otherwise this? I understand it is not a mass phenomena, but if thousands of Poles marched in Warsaw with slogans demanding Poland quit NATO and join BRICS, one would assume that Germans, especially Eastern Germans, might have their own view on current German government, about which Mark Chapman did a good write up today. So, here is the photo:

It asks Russians not to mix ordinary Germans with their lying media and insane government. Most Russians don't, but still... as in O.Henry's Roads of Destiny.  

As You All Know...

... from the most honest and freest American-Ukrainian MSM (yes, the US MSM are disinformation machine and run on Ukie BS "intel") Putin "has a cancer", Shoigu is, probably, dead and Valery Gerasimov was targeted in 404 and was wounded by victorious 404 forces. Larry Johnson has already elaborated on Putin's "cancer":

Guess what? The United States Intelligence Community also has weighed in and reportedly believes that some dark days lie in store for Vladimir. Their source? Open Source media. In other words, the alleged Russian General posting on Telegram. If you are a U.S. tax payer and wonder what the Intel Community is doing with your hard earned dollars you now have a partial answer–they are reading social media. Unclassified by the way until they slap a TS on a document that they are sending to Dementia Joe passing on the Telegram gossip.

Judging by the US MSM "experts" in combined arms warfare or intel, who exhibit a high school level of "understanding" of the warfare and intel with propaganda, most of them, it seems, have a fantastical thinking. They, as good ol' Caucasus proverb says, think that if they repeat the BS many times it will come true. You know, if you say Baklava 100 times you will eventually start tasting sweetness in your mouth. That both underscores utter incompetence and desperation. But that's Putin's "cancer" thing. 

Now dead Shoigu and wounded Gerasimov seem today to be very much alive and unscathed, and, in fact, in good working mood while holding a selector (conference) meeting in MoD. Obviously, the video is not available on YouTube yet, but you can watch it by following the hyperlink below and here is what important in this TASS report:

МОСКВА, 4 мая. /ТАСС/. Прибывшие на Украину транспортные средства НАТО с оружием и амуницией для Вооруженных сил Украины (ВСУ) будут уничтожаться, заявил в среду глава Минобороны РФ Сергей Шойгу на селекторном совещании."США и их союзники по НАТО продолжают накачивать Украину оружием", - сказал Шойгу. Он отметил,  что любой транспорт альянса, который прибыл на территорию страны с вооружением или материальными средствами для нужд вооруженных сил Украины, рассматривается как законная цель для поражения.По словам Шойгу, в ходе спецоперации военнослужащие России обеспечивают безопасность населения Донбасса, проявляют отвагу и мужество и с честью исполняют свой воинский долг. "Российские вооруженные силы продолжат выполнять все задачи, поставленные верховным главнокомандующим", - заявил министр.

Translation:  MOSCOW, 4 May. /TASS/. NATO transports with weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) that arrived in Ukraine will be destroyed, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday at a conference call. "The United States and its NATO allies continue to pump weapons into Ukraine," Shoigu said. He noted that any alliance transport that arrived on the territory of the country with weapons or materiel for the needs of the armed forces of Ukraine is considered a legitimate target for destruction. According to Shoigu, during the special operation, the Russian military ensure the safety of the population of Donbass, show courage and courage and honorably fulfill their military duty. "The Russian Armed Forces will continue to fulfill all the tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief," the minister said.

This is really bad news to NATO, because even if to consider salvos by supersonic (Mach-2.8+) P-800 Onyx missiles, which exhibited since Syria and incredible, not just anti-shipping capability and range of well in excess of 800 kilometers (get a hint from 3M22 Zircon) or M=9, 2000 kilometer range Kinzhal any "airlift" to 404 by NATO looks like this for Onyx alone. 

Do not also forget that Iskander uses TWO types of missiles. Considering the fact that Russia has an excellent space-based intel and recon assets, targeting will not be a problem. If the US (and its NATO poodles) think that they can supply Nazi regime in Kiev with, quite useless, actually, weapons, Russia, certainly, has the right to cut those "lines of communications", including air transports. For MiG-31 K with Kinzhal taking off from Rostov-on-Don it would take approximately 10-12 minutes to take off and reach the launch point in about 1000 kilometers of any air field in Western Ukraine and that gives any NATO transport about 10-12 min. + around 300 seconds (or about 5 minutes) to reach the target. Right, about 17 minutes max. Make your own conclusion on the probability of transport aircraft with weapons survivability. After all, it takes a significant time to unload one, well in excess of 17 minutes. In the end, any airfield could easily be wiped off the map and that is what Shoigu talked about today. 

You know, about playing hard. Ask Congressman Adam Kizinger if he wants to pilot one of those C-17s to Ukraine. He wanted to fight Russia, let him experience a real war. It is not the same as flying transports into Iraq or Afghanistan.

Short Note On Russian (LDNR Too) Losses.

Russian MoD announced the number of losses by combined Russian-LDNR forces.  KIAs: 1,351, Sanitary (Wounded etc.): 3,825 (in Russian). As you can see yourself a classic ratio of roughly 1 KIA to 3 Sanitary is almost exact. This is exactly what I wrote about two days ago. This shows, as is known now, that Anglo-American MSM are staffed with one-cell creatures who know nothing, as is true for their curators from "intel" who drip all kinds of BS for them, about real war and basic correlates, which do not require special education. How do I assess losses? Under existing conditions and considering a massive scale of operation--they are light. 

Meanwhile VSU continues to annihilate Russian aviation, now the third time over, and is being victorious to the left and to the right. PJW has a video to prove it;)

I guess CIA and Pentagon should really continue to rely on VSU as their sources of information. Same as US Treasury should rely on economic data from IMF, or State Department base its conclusions on opinions of Michael McFaul, Masha Gessen and Julia Ioffe. 

They Finally Have Shown Bastion's Innards...

And if anyone wonders, no, Onyxes (P-800)s from Russian Bastions have a range way longer than 300 kilometers. Say, ahem, 600+...or 800+...

Or maybe more, wink, wink. I heard Indians drove their Brahmos (a P-800 derivative) way beyond 800 kilometers.

Now Real Professionals Talk...

 On the go. 

A “miscalculation” in the cat and mouse game with Russia could lead to full blown war, the head of the Armed Forces has warned, after a tense confrontation in the Black Sea this week. General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the defence staff, said the risk of an “unwarranted escalation” involving Britain was “the thing that keeps me awake in bed at night”. There was a standoff between Britain and Russia when a Royal Navy destroyer passed through a contested part of the Black Sea on Wednesday. Russia considers the waters to be its own after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, but it is recognised by Britain as sovereign Ukrainian territory. HMS Defender provoked Russian forces into firing warning shots and dropping four bombs close to the ship, according to the Russian defence ministry, but this claim is disputed by Downing Street.

After that Carter elaborated on the advantages Russia (and China) have when compared to combined West. Russia's MoD and its very own Igor Konashenkov, responding to John Kirby's "comments" nonchalantly stated obvious:

.... подчеркнул, что бывшему контр-адмиралу Джону Кирби, назвавшему инцидент в Черном море дезинформацией, "хорошо известно, что для надежно охраняющих безопасность Крыма российских вооруженных сил эсминец Defender в любой точке Черного моря - всего лишь жирная цель для противокорабельных комплексов Черноморского флота".

Translation: (Konashenkov) underscored that for Kirby, a former rear-admiral, who called the incident in the Black Sea a disinformation it should be well known that for Russian Armed Forces defending Crimea HMS Defender is nothing more than a fat target in any part of the Black Sea for Russia's anti-shipping missiles.

Kirby, who launched his naval career as SuWa (Surface Warfare) officer, should know how detection, tracking and targeting are done by Russians and what are saturation thresholds of all NATO AD complexes against all types of missiles deployed by Russians. He also should know what it means "tracking by weapon" (Слежение Оружием) and how salvos are formed. So, it is all so cute when people try to deny obvious, thus exposing themselves as guilty and weak party. 

In related news, as I predicted for years, Russia started to deploy MiG-31Ks with Kinzhals to Syria and now conducts patrols over Mediterranean (in Russian). To give some idea what it all means--Kinzhal has a range of 2,000 kilometers (with the range of carrier-around 3,000 kilometers) at M=9+ velocity and maneuvers at terminal, making it impossible to intercept by any combination of existing AD means at NATO's disposal. To give an idea what it all means, here is some illustration.

Any Kinzhal launched from Latakia's airspace will reach a target in the Black Sea in about 5-7 minutes, while launched from the vicinity of Rostov even faster. When even Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov (forget Shoigu) states that " we are going to "bomb" them", one should take a note.  And yes, there is no "cat and mouse" game, because targeting any NATO asset is continuous and is in real time. Guys, this is not 1980s, this is 2021 and Russians are really good at sensor fusion plus whatever they have in space, and they have a lot. So, the forms have been obeyed and Kirby should know well that right now Russian Navy's task group sails in the vicinity of Hawaii (strictly in the international waters, mind you) and who knows how many 3M14s are currently loaded in VLS of what is on the surface, but more importantly--what is under it.