Putin’s empire on fire: Partisans destroyed a SU-24 bomber in Novosibirsk, a rubber warehouse in Yekaterinburg, and an oil refinery in Krasnodar were set ablaze
Additionally Russia is plagued by wildfires. Heavy blazes are reported from Siberia and the Ural region.
The consequences of these wildfires will be worse than usual, another “ripple effect” of Russia’s war against Ukraine
Russia has sent many conscripts and convicts to the front. These groups of men normally aid massively to fight these wildfires. This is one of the many bad consequences of Russia’s barbaric venture in Ukraine. Stephen Spender called it “a kind of arithmetic progression of horror.”
Putin’s realm is literally “catching fire”
Let’s jump right into it. A lot has happened since my last update on the third of May. I will give each incident a number from 1 to 5. One means that it’s very unlikely that Partisans are involved (aka an accident or careless smoking). And five would indicate that there is a high chance of partisan involvement.
- Yekaterinburg, rubber warehouse May 5th 4/5
The city of Yekaterinburg is the fourth largest city of the Russian Federation and it has 1.3 million inhabitants. It’s located in the Ural Federal district. The warehouse that was set on fire contained rubber and flammable liquids.
The blaze consumed the entire warehouse and it had a size of over 4000 square meters and it even spread to nearby vegetation. This will be important later on as well, as the fire season in Russia has officiallly begun. This will cause Russia major problems going forward.
In general, rubber materials are very useful for Russia’s war effort
Every warehouse that goes up in flames is one warehouse less that can fuel Russia’s war machine. Generally speaking, these rubber goods are widely used at home and for technical and scientific or military purposes. It should be assumed that the warehouse suffered a total damage.
“The fire has engulfed two warehouses. There are flammable liquids and rubber at the warehouses. Preliminary reports indicate that there are no casualties.”
2. Krasnodar Krai, Ilskyi oil refinery. May 4th and May 5th, 2023 1/5
The Krasnodar Oblast is located in the North Caucaus region. It’s just south of the Rostov Oblast. The town Ilskyi is very small, with only 26.000 inhabitants. The refinery there was attacked twice.
In the first attack, fuel tanks burst into flames on an area of 400 square meters (around 4,300 square feet)
The reports claim that four drones were used for the attack. Three of them had hit their target, and one missed. The fuel tank was 85 percent full, and now it’s 100 percent destroyed.
The second drone atttack on the fifth of May has hit one of the plants units
There are no reported casualties. Four drones for the price of millions of dollars worth of fuel. Additionally one unit of the plant will now be in need of repairs. I would call that a successful implementation of drone warfare by Ukraine or whoever else may have launched these drones.
3. Sverdlovsk Oblast, Omsk, Tyumen, Kurgan (Ural region and Siberia) 2/5
The wildfires are back with a vengeance in Russia this year. Sverdlovsk region was hit extremely hard. It’s located in the Ural mountains, and 21 people are reportedly dead so far . One fire is located close to a gunpowder warehouse. Such warehouses are usually highly allergic to heat. We don’t know whether these warehouses went up in smoke as well or not though.
These fires don’t just rage there, in Kurgan more than 5000 (!) buildings have reportedly burned down
Putin cynically told the local authorities of the region one year ago to prepare themselves better through more coordination. Putin should not have started this war and sent those that normally extinguish these fires (conscripts and prisonsers) to die a useless death in Ukraine. They would be needed instead to fight these massive fires. This is just one of the many bad secondary effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian authorities also disbanded the Federal Aviation Network in 2007.
This agency was reinstated later. However, the service suffers from corruption and a lack of equipment. This situation will likely worsen as Putin throws Russia’s resources at his failed imperial project in the West instead of conenctrating on Russia’s many domestic problems.
While Russia’s soldiers die in Ukraine, the houses of their families are burning down back at home
The price of this war will rise sky high. This price will rise ever higher in the coming months. The situation is tragic, but it’s also self-inflicted due to years of negligence and underfunding. It’s definitely an apocalyptic sight to behold. It’s disastrous for the climate and for the people living in these regions.
4. Moscow construction site 4/5
This fire broke out near the academy of the FSB as construction materials caught fire in an open area in Ochakovo-Matveevsky, a region of Moscow. Reportedly, the fire was roughly 150 square meters big and thick black smoke enveloped a large area. As always, when we are trying to find details regarding an FSB building, the information remains scarce.
Finally, let’s turn our attention to the “big fish” namely the SU-24 bomber that was destroyed.
5. The SU-24 destroyed by Partisans somewhere in Novosibirsk 5/5
So, what has happened here?
The partisans let us know that on the morning of May 8th, 2023, in Novosibirsk, on the territory of the Sukhoi Company’s aircraft factory, unknown partisans destroyed an SU-24 combat aircraft. The aircraft was located on the site of aviation equipment intended for repair and modernization.
The plane has successfully burned out, and it will no longer need repairs
This really hurts and to give you a better understanding of why this hurts so much. Let’s talk a bit about this type of plane and the “money shot” we can see in the video below.
The SU-24 is a capable, supersonic, all-weather tactical bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons
Each and every single one of those planes getting destroyed is a good progress. The Su-24 started development in the early 1960s and entered full production in 1967. Production ceased in 1993. The cost per unit is around 25 million dollars per plane.
Russia has, according to Russia, 273 of these bombers in active service
Ten of them have been visually confirmed lost in Ukraine. How many of the remaining bombers are still deployable is hard to tell. My guess is that this number is a lot lower than 273. The SU-24 is the same type of aircraft that was shot down by Turkey in 2015 on its border with Syria. I think the SU-24 is a beautiful machine, but it’s better this way. We don’t need Russian nuclear weapons flying over this world, threatening to end it.
Update 12.05. Norilsk Warehouses set on fire 3/5
An area of 4000 square meters was set on fire in Norilsk which is one of Russia’s “closed” industrial cities. And it is considered the northernmost big city on earth. It is basically one huge industrial and mining town.
The fire seems substantial and is further proof that the Federation is in trouble. The anger of those affected by the war will continue to grow and it will bring destruction to Russia even far away from the frontlines.
Summary and conclusion
The fire of revolution is a small spark that can quickly turn into a bonfire. “For no nation deserves freedom unless it makes it for itself” as Giuseppe Mazzini once famously said.
But also, Vaclav Havel is convinced that at some point, unarmed resistance against a totalitarian state is not working anymore. Only armed resistance will yield results against a full blown dictatorship.
However, revolutions often dig their own graves through overboarding violence, which then breeds more violence. This confines the population in a cycle of revolution and counter-revolution. Russsia is well accostumed to this cycle.
“Ideology offers human beings the illusion of an identity, of dignity, and of morality while making it easier for them to part with them.” Vaclav Havel
The Russian population must become inspired to rise up against the Putin regime, or it will likely miss its last chance of democratisation
Russians have done so in the past, and the Russian state is weaker than it appears. Russians will either have to rebel or go down with the ship. Some have done it already, but we are far away from a critical mass. The Putin regime won’t stop unless we make them stop. I am not very optimistic that the Russians will overthrow their dictator anytime soon though.
Their other option is to follow Putin into an abyss
I still haven’t given up hope, I refuse to believe that the Russians couldn’t after all rise up and remove this awful regime from power. These brave souls I write about here, prove that hope is frail, but hard to kill.
Hope is kindled Mithrandir
I hope for a better tomorrow for Ukraine and a new and transformed Russia
Some day soon, these fascist Russian machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts, will stand trial for their crimes against humanity. Putin and his regime will face justice for what they have done to Ukraine, Syria, Chechnya, Georgia, and Sudan. The world must not rest until we hold these men accountable for their crimes.
“A government based on terrorism requires constantly to demonstrate its might and resolution” Malcolm Muggeridge
Sources:
https://stv24.tv/novosti/bochki-s-mazutom-zagorelis-okolo-trassy-pod-stavropolem/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_Russian_military_aircraft