Cluster munitions are used in the widest possible way in the zone of the special military operation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while answering journalists' questions during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Asked whether the Ukrainian side was now using cluster munitions on the battlefield, Putin replied: "They are being used, and in the widest possible way."
"But I have already commented on this. I have nothing to add," he said.
The cluster munitions issue, he believes, "reflects perfectly what is happening in the world as a whole."
"What I mean is this: there is one country that thinks it is exceptional - the United States," Putin explained. "Even what it considers to be a crime, it takes the liberty of doing itself. In fact, the US is using cluster munitions in this case, with the Ukrainians’ hands," he pointed out.
Putin noted that Washington considered the use of such munitions as a crime, but at the same time "it feels free to do it, and this is the main problem of today's international relations."
He is certain that for this reason a vast majority of participants in international communication were working together with Russia for the creation of a multipolar world, because almost no one is satisfied with such a state of affairs.
"I say 'almost' because even those countries which are allies of the United States, I assure you, do not like this situation, either. They don’t like being treated as backstage extras," Putin said.
"Yes, they [the US - TASS) use [cluster munitions], unfortunately. They themselves call it a crime and keep doing it," Putin concluded.
Watch Russian Ka-52 Helicopter Wreck Ukrainian Tank
The Ka-52s, which continue to perform missions in the Russian Special Military Operational Zone, are widely recognized for their performance characteristics and high durability.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released a video of a Ka-52 Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopter destroying a Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) tank in the southern Donetsk region of the front line.
The footage shows the helicopter launching a guided missile, which exploded after hitting the armored vehicle.
The clip was released in the midst of Kiev's bungled counteroffensive, which Russian President Vladimir Putin says has claimed the lives of at least 71,000 UAF soldiers.
Ukrainian Military Casualties Exceed 400 in Donetsk, Zaporozhye Directions
The Ukrainian military lost over 400 soldiers in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday, adding that six enemy attacks have been repelled in these areas.
“The enemy lost up to 275 military personnel [in the Donetsk direction], four armored combat vehicles, four vehicles, three US-made M777 artillery systems, as well as the Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount,” the ministry said in a statement, specifying that four attacks have been repelled in this area
Two attacks have been repelled in the Zaporozhye direction near the Rabotino settlement, the ministry said, adding that a Ukrainian assault brigade near Verbovoye has been attacked.
“More than 145 Ukrainian military personnel and three vehicles were destroyed,” the ministry said.
Moreover, the Russian troops have repelled two attacks in the Krasny Liman direction in the past 24 hours.
“In the South Donetsk direction, units of [Russia’s] Vostok grouping of troops repelled an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces in the area of the settlement of Novomayorskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic … Enemy losses in this direction amounted to more than 175 Ukrainian military personnel, two armored combat vehicles, four cars, two D-30 howitzers, and one D-20 gun,” the ministry said.
Russian forces have destroyed two unmanned boats of the Ukrainian armed forces in the southwestern part of the Black Sea over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
"Over the past 24 hours, the Black Sea Fleet discovered and destroyed two unmanned semi-submersible boats of the armed forces of Ukraine in the southwestern part of the Black Sea," the ministry wrote on Telegram.
With a deadline looming just before midnight Thursday, the United Auto Workers union and Detroit's three automakers remain far apart in contract talks and the union is preparing to strike.
But talks continued on Thursday with GM increasing its wage offer and Ford looking for a counteroffer from the union.
With less than 24 hours left before current strikes expire, the United Auto Workers' union and the Detroit Big 3 automakers have not yet reached a deal.
The companies say it's still possible to work out a viable compromise before 11:59 p.m. on Thursday. The union, meanwhile, has started laying out its strike plan – an unusual one, at that.
Here's what you need to know as the final day of talks kicks off.
For now, the two sides still stand far apart
For now, the two sides have yet to clinch a deal — and there seems to be plenty of anger all around.
The union, pointing to soaring profits, says companies can afford more
In a Facebook Live event on Wednesday night, UAW president Shawn Fain put up a chart comparing Big 3 profits – up 65% over four years – to autoworker pay, which increased just 6%.
UAW President Shawn Fain talks with union members before marching in the Detroit Labor Day Parade in Detroit on Sept. 4, 2023. Fain has adopted a much more confrontational attitude towards automakers than previous UAW leaders.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
He said while what the automakers are offering in response to union demands has improved, it still doesn't reflect the sacrifices of the autoworkers that made the companies' success possible.
"They could double our wages and not raise car prices and still make billions of dollars in profit," he said. "They want to scare the American people into thinking the autoworkers are the problem. We're not the problem. ... Corporate greed is the problem. And come tomorrow night, if they force us, we're about to make it the Big Three's problem."
The UAW plans to strike in an unprecedented way
The UAW says it's ready to strike as soon as the contract expires just before midnight on Thursday.
But the strike will be different this time.
To begin with, the UAW has conducted these talks in an unusual way. Typically it picks one company to hash out a deal with, possibly striking against them, and then once that's resolved, it pushes the other two companies to more or less match that deal.
This time, it threatened to strike all three at once if they didn't each make a satisfactory offer. The union also provided regular updates about what both sides had offered, atypical for a process often shrouded in secrecy.
United Auto Workers members and others gather for a rally after marching in the Detroit Labor Day Parade in Detroit on Sept. 4, 2023. Only hours remain before UAW contracts with the Big 3 automakers expire just before midnight.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
This time, it threatened to strike all three at once if they didn't each make a satisfactory offer. The union also provided regular updates about what both sides had offered, atypical for a process often shrouded in secrecy.
Now the union has outlined a strike plan that would be as unusual as the talks.
"We're inventing a whole new way to strike," Fain said in his Wednesday live-stream. He called it the "stand-up strike," a reference to the "sit-down strikes" of 1937.
Instead of walking out en masse, the UAW is planning to strike at a small number of plants to start with – at one, two or all three companies, depending on whether any tentative deals are struck.
But if they're not satisfied with how bargaining is moving, the UAW will add more and more strike locations.
A tentative deal might not be the end of the story
A last-minute deal is entirely possible, with one or more of the companies. But any deal struck by the union leadership still has be ratified by the membership as a whole, and workers could choose to send their leaders back to the table to push for more.
In 2021, workers at John Deere rejected two tentative agreements before finally approving a better deal.
Some in the auto industry have wondered if the UAW's militant tone and emphasis on the power of strikes would make it harder to get any initial deal ratified this year. Even with a decent offer on the table, workers might suspect they could get better terms after striking.
Ford says the UAW hasn't been offering counter-proposals
That's all very hypothetical for now, because there's no sign of a deal.
Normally, over the course of a negotiation, two sides start far apart and trade offers to work toward somewhere in the middle. At least one company says the union isn't holding up its side.
Ford CEO Jim Farley, with clear frustration, said his company had presented four increasingly generous offers without any substantive counter proposal from the union.
"In fact, the first time I even found out that Shawn Fain had seen our [latest] offer was tonight on Facebook Live," Farley told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday. "We're here. We're ready to negotiate. But it's sure hard to negotiate a contract when there's no one to negotiate with."
"We want to make a deal," he said. "If there is a strike, it won't be because we didn't put a great deal in front of them, because we have – four times."
In statements on Wednesday, GM simply said it was continuing to bargain "directly and in good faith" with the union. But Stellantis said it was still waiting on a counter proposal to the offer it made on Tuesday.
On pay and cost of living, the automakers have shifted
The union initially asked for a pay increase of more than 40%, citing a 40% increase in CEO pay over the last four years. They also pushed for a return of cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA, which are pay increases pegged to inflation – an issue close to workers' hearts right now, after experiencing high inflation that reduced the value of their wages.
Meanwhile, companies have raised their offers on wages, going from 9 or 10% initially to as high as 20% now, but the union says that's still barely enough to make up for inflation and previous stagnant pay.
The companies also have shifted from offering one-time "inflation bonuses" – which companies prefer over pay increases, because they don't accumulate over time – to offering COLA, albeit at levels the union says are inadequate.
In addition to wages, unionized auto workers get profit-sharing checks. The UAW wants to tie the size of those checks to the amount the companies spend on stock buybacks and dividends, but says companies want to calculate that in such a way as to make checks smaller.
Little progress on hours, work-life balance
The union had been pushing for reductions in hours - including, notably, an argument for a 4-day workweek.
The companies are agreeing to make Juneteenth a holiday, and Ford has offered 2 weeks of parental leave, but otherwise, there has been no major movement on paid time off.
On tiers, the two sides disagree on where they stand
Ford says that it has agreed to totally eliminate pay tiers. The union says Ford has made no such offer. The reason? The two sides simply don't agree on what a tier is.
In 2007, during difficult talks while auto companies were financially struggling, the union accepted a deal it came to regret: to preserve higher pay for its existing members, it allowed lower pay for new hires. That created a two-tier system that led to resentment and frustration within the union.
Ford CEO Jim Farley speaks at the reveal of the new Mustang GTD at the 2023 North American International Detroit Auto Show in Detroit on Sept. 13, 2023. Farley said on Wednesday Ford had presented four increasingly generous offers without any substantive counter proposal from the union.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Back then, a "second-tier' employee would never earn as much as a "first-tier" one. But that changed in 2019. Now a new hire can work their way up to the same pay as their colleagues, over the course of eight years.
The companies do not consider this a "tier" system, since the pay is eventually equal, and they're offering to reduce the timeline to bridge the gap to four years. But the union views the requirement to work for years before getting maximum wages – along with the fact that people hired since 2007 don't get pensions or retiree benefits – as a form of a "tier."
On job security, retiree benefits and pensions, the sides remain far apart
On pensions and benefits for retired workers, the companies have not budged. Automakers say pensions and retirement benefits are simply too expensive; they also make the case that some workers prefer 401(k)s to pensions, because they can be taken with you if you change jobs. The union has expressed a strong preference for the guaranteed payments of a pension.
The union has also been pushing for another benefit that's a blast from the past: job security guarantees that would continue to pay workers even if a plant is shut down. That, too, has gotten no traction. A similar program to pay workers not to work was an infamous burden on automakers up until the late 2000s, and hurt the public reputation of the union.
The ongoing Ukrainian 'counteroffensive,' which has been dragging on for three months now, has essentially confirmed that Western military hardware is not superior to Russian weaponry.
Instead of witnessing Ukrainian crack assault brigades smashing through the Russian defensive lines with the help of vast quantities of Western military hardware supplied by NATO, the regime in Kiev and its sponsors watched instead as well-entrenched Russian forces methodically obliterated everything thrown at them.
So what tools does Russia use to repeatedly humble the Ukrainian war machine backed by the entire financial and military might of the United States and NATO?
Air Power
While some Western masters of military strategy and tactics have attributed Kiev’s failings on the battlefield to the dastardly shrubbery, there were also those who pointed at factors such as Russia's distinct advantage in the air.
One weapon in particular, the Ka-52 attack helicopter commonly referred to as "Alligator," has made quite a name for itself, striking at Ukrainian armor and vanishing before the enemy manages to muster a response.
Even if it ends up taking flak, literally, Ka-52 can often endure the punishment and make it back to base thanks to the helicopter's impressive plating.
A screenshot of a video depicting a Ka-52 attack helicopter hitting Ukrainian positions.
Russian drones have also proved quite adept at dealing stinging blows to Ukrainian military assets.
The Lancet-3 loitering munitions, for example, have become a veritable headache for Ukrainian officers thanks to their uncanny ability to deliver precise and crippling blows to armored vehicles, radar stations and even air defense systems.
Mines
When Ukrainian forces rushed towards the first Russian defensive line, they quickly hit a snag in the form of extensive minefields carefully prepared for their arrival by the Russian forces.
This additional layer of defense, which helped turn the Ukrainian advance into a bloody slog for the Kiev regime forces, was made possible in no small part thanks to the mobile mine laying system ISDM Zemledeliye employed by the Russian troops.
Essentially a set of tube launchers mounted on a military truck, Zemledeliye (which means "agriculture" in Russian) can rapidly cover a vast swath of land with mines by launching them from a distance of up to 15 kilometers, with the weapon system operating akin to a multiple launch rocket system - one that fires mines instead of rockets, that is.
The type of mines Zemledeliye can launch varies from POM-3 anti-personnel fragmentation mines to PTM-4M anti-tank mines.
And when Russian forces themselves need to navigate an enemy minefield, that’s when UR-77 mine clearing vehicles come into action.
Based on tracked chassis, the UR-77 can launch mine-clearing charges that extend into a long line before detonating, effectively destroying any mines in an area about 90 meters long and 6 meters wide.
Artillery
Since the launch of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian forces have learned the hard way exactly how efficient and deadly Russian artillery is.
The destructive might of this particular branch of the Russian Armed Forces became especially evident during the Ukrainian "counteroffensive" when those Ukrainian troops who managed to make it past the minefields often get taken out by artillery fire before they can come to grips with Russian forces.
The Russian forces employ a wide array of artillery pieces to achieve these results, including the Msta-B and Giatsint-B 152mm towed howitzers; Akatsiya, Giatsint-S and Msta-S 152mm self-propelled howitzers; and the Tyulpan 240mm self-propelled heavy mortar that is capable of lobbing 130 kg shells at targets up to 18 kilometers away.
Despite the fact that many of these weapon systems were developed and adopted during the Soviet era, they proved to be quite effective against the supposedly superior Western military hardware.
Russian troops also use multiple launch rocket systems like the 122mm BM-21 Grad and Tornado-G, the 220mm BM-27 Uragan and the 300mm BM-31 Smerch.
Watch Russian Tanks Wipe Out Ukrainian Strongholds
Russian T-90M "Breakthrough" tanks ravage Ukrainian defenses as the counteroffensive stalls. On Thursday, Russian forces successfully destroyed strongholds with Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman direction.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has published footage of Russian tank crews striking Ukrainian positions, destroying strongholds together with Ukrainian troops in the Krasny Liman direction.
Tank crews work in cooperation with reconnaissance units and drone operators to hit targets more accurately and spend less ammunition.
The T-90 tank was introduced into service in 1992 and since then has become the world's best-seller due to its state-of-the-art characteristics. While the tank has been upgraded multiple times over the years, the modern T-90M Proryv ("Breakthrough") version is one of the best tanks in the world and is widely used in the special operation zone in Ukraine.
The counteroffensive attempt launched by the Kiev regime is coming to its inevitable end. Encouraged by its NATO partners, Ukraine has sacrificed a vast part of its human resources.
Now, with the most resourceful people either having fled abroad or having died for nothing, Ukraine has to resort to defense, which is difficult considering the colossal losses in troops and Western military equipment, as well as the sinking morale of the Ukrainian soldiers who desert en masse to save their lives.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine has failed to achieve any meaningful goals during the counteroffensive attempt and has sent tens of thousands of its citizens to their deaths on the battlefield. Nevertheless, it relentlessly continues to challenge Russian defensive lines.
Russia's Defense Ministry released footage showing Pacific Fleet marines repelling numerous Ukrainian attacks near Ugledar.
The Marine Corps, supported by artillery fire, thwarted all offensive attempts by Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian militants undergone extensive training in NATO countries and are equipped with new, including top-notch Leopard 2 battle tanks. However, it turned out that these armored vehicles are just as susceptible to burning as anything else, and every new attempt by Ukrainian troops to launch an attack results in devastating losses within their ranks.
According to the latest data from Russian Ministry of Defense, Kiev had lost more than 66,000 troops and 7,600 pieces of military equipment since the beginning of the counteroffensive.
Battles raging around-the-clock – the enemy never stops trying to pincer the city, trying to seize the dominant heights, while volunteer formations are holding the southern flank. Find out why deputies, the children of wealthy parents and other ordinary people decided to go to the front by reading this Sputnik article.
At the Vanguard of Deputy Corps
A huge pickup truck with the unexpected inscription "DEPUTY" (State Duma deputy – ed. note Sputnik) – white letters on the black background of the license plate – pulls up to the gas station in Enakievo, the arranged meeting place. And it's not just the driver's call sign. At the wheel is 39-year-old Eduard Sharafiev, a member of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan. But that's in his former civilian life. Now, he serves as the deputy commander of the St. George Volunteer Reconnaissance and Assault Brigade.
My guide is fully equipped: body armor, helmet, pouches with extra magazines, an assault rifle, and a tactical first-aid kit at his side. Eduard has been here for many months and is distinctly different from his fellow deputies, who come in waves to "do the rounds" on the third line in front of the cameras. However, he is no exception.
"In our brigade, we have representatives of the entire hierarchy of the legislative power, so to speak," Sharafiev smiles, deftly steering the wheel. "We have a municipal deputy, he is a platoon commander. I am from the regional level, a member of the State Council. And our brigade commander is Alexander Yurievich Borodai. He is from the State Duma. When we get together, we joke that it is an offsite plenary session. But in the brigade, there are certainly people from all over the country, with an average age of over 30".
The backbone of the brigade consists of three battalions. The brigade has no tanks yet, but they (the Russian Defense Ministry) promise to provide them soon. As for artillery, they have plenty – Grad multiple rocket launchers, towed howitzers, and self-propelled guns. Two battalions are engaged in combat, rotating to relieve each other. Another one, the assault battalion, remains in reserve. They keep it in case the command gives the order to advance in the direction of Artemovsk (Bakhmut). For now, it is a positional standoff.
On the southern flank, the enemy is trying to seize the predominant heights in the areas of Kleshcheyevka, Kurdyumovka, and Andreyevka. If the Ukrainian Armed Forces reach this line, the logistical routes connecting Artemovsk (Bakhmut) with the rest of the Donetsk People's Republic – primarily the road to Gorlovka – will be in jeopardy. Losing positions in the north would force Russian troops to abandon the city. Preventing this outcome is the task of the St. George Brigade.
Howitzer Camouflaged as Firewood
We drive northwest from Debaltsevo. The further we get from the rear, the worse the road gets. The pickup truck bounces from side to side as it proceeds over potholes. Signs reading Mines and checkpoints are a common sight. The trees look bare, their branches shorn by shrapnel. We cautiously cross a damaged bridge, symbolically shaped like the letter V, and soon arrive at our destination.
The village (we cannot name it) has been completely destroyed by artillery fire. Not a single house, barn, or shed remains intact - just rubble everywhere. In a garden overgrown with weeds, the grass is smoldering due to the aftermath of a recent strike. Sharp as razors, shell fragments are scattered everywhere, seemingly eager to pierce the soles of your boots.
At first glance, no one is here. But five fighters emerge from the nearest basement, having received instructions from the reconnaissance team. They rush to the D-30 howitzer, wrapped in a gray-green net, and prepare it for battle. The artillery piece is well camouflaged. From three to four meters away, it looks like a pile of firewood covered with an old mat. Even an experienced drone pilot would not be able to spot it
"Scope: 365, direction angle: 28-90, full charge, high-explosive shell," the senior commands abruptly. The spotter makes adjustments, fine-tuning the settings. "Fire!" The howitzer roars deafeningly, sending up a thick cloud of reddish dust. The crew immediately throws a camouflage net over it and rushes back into the basement. We follow suit, taking cover in the "smoke screen" created by the shot. The enemy is likely to see it not only from a drone, but possibly from a satellite as well. So any second now we can expect a "response".
Incidentally, back in the summer, the 1st Donetsk Army Corps fighters complained they were very short on 122mm shells for their D-30 howitzers. It got to the point where they resorted to using older and more primitive 152mm D-20s, put into service right after the Great Patriotic War (WW2). However, judging by what we saw with the St. George Brigade’s artillerymen, it seems that the Russian industry has picked up the pace in producing modern ammunition.
Elusive Tank
We settle down in a cramped basement. It's well lit. A generator hums softly in the ruins of the house upstairs. Upon seeing a reporter with a camera, the fighters put on balaclavas. They're not worried about themselves, but about their families. Ukrainian intelligence agencies, actively using AI, could easily identify an artilleryman's name, surname, and family address from his face.
For this reason, fighters are reluctant to talk about themselves.
"I commanded a D-30 howitzer crew during my military service," says the artilleryman known as Kolyvan, who bears the call sign of the Russian epic hero. "I am from Ulyanovsk, and this is my second contract in the special military operation zone. The first was near Kharkov. In my civilian life I made upholstered furniture for a living. It's a completely non-military job, although we had [applicator] guns there too (laughs), for upholstery work, but still! There are five of us in my crew. We have complete mutual understanding. From receiving the target coordinates to hitting the target, it takes only a minute and a half. This is considered a very good result."
As for the fighter code-named “Saiga”, this is his first deployment to the Special Military Operation Zone. At first, he tried to “self-mobilize” through the Ministry of Defense but suffered a setback – he lost his military ID. He then joined as a volunteer. He admits that the most frightening experience is being under tank fire. The speed of its shell is extremely rapid, with only fractions of a second between the moment it is fired and the moment it hits. There is no time to take cover. This tank had already destroyed one of the two guns in the battery.
"It’s been bothering us for a while," confirms an artilleryman code-named “Reva”, who wears a plush Cheburashka on his body armor (a good luck charm from his wife). "It jumps out, fires five or six rounds, and then retreats. But we'll get it for sure, just like we did with the American armored vehicle 'Bradley' recently. The enemy launched an offensive at seven in the morning. We responded, and the reconnaissance adjusted our fire. With the third or fourth shell, we scored a direct hit on the American vehicle, and it immediately started smoking. Then we hit the armored personnel carrier."
“Reva” is perhaps the most experienced here. He has been fighting since February 2022. He has been near Kiev, Izyum in the Kharkov region, and on the Kremennaya-Svatovo line. What's more, he remembers his first battle when artillery struck their column near the Ukrainian capital. It was terrifying, but he says you get used to it over time. You push the fear aside, so it does not interfere with your combat duties.
What Motivates These Volunteers?
Each fighter in the volunteer brigade has his own motivation. For “Reva”, a native of Rostov, he has many relatives in Donbass, some of whom have lost their lives in the nine-year conflict, and he seeks revenge. “Kolyvan”, who has a military background, finds satisfaction in reliving his conscription service and working again with his beloved D-30 howitzer. And the brigade's deputy commander, Eduard Sharafiev, who goes by the nom de guerre “Deputy”, admits that he wants to set an example for some of his colleagues who stayed behind on the home front. He was not drafted under the partial mobilization drive because he had never served in the army, so he decided to volunteer.
There are also children of “privileged” parents among the brigade's fighters. Arseny Sterligov is the son of the well-known businessman German Sterligov. He is a cheerful, modest, and reserved young man who shies away from the camera and refuses to give interviews. However, when asked directly why he didn't use his father's status to shun the front lines, he responded succinctly:
"It would take too long to explain. Long story short: somebody has to do it."
This statement captures the essence of the "Georgievtsy,” the volunteer fighters. Of course, it is a twist of fate that three deputies ended up in the same combat unit.
Nevertheless, it is not by chance that the special military operation brings together people, who during peacetime had neither a mutual circle of acquaintances, nor common interests nor did they have a common goal. Today, they are together because "somebody has to do it".
