Ballistic missile Made in UA. Ukraine lost the first F-16 and PILOT. Banning Russian not orthodox church. Putin shipped to Hague?

Ukraine has developed its first ballistic missile

President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Ukraine has successfully tested its first ballistic missile. Even amidst the fog of war, we can assume that it is the much talked-about Sapsan or Hrim-2 that has been under development since 2014. Knowing well my beloved Rocket City Dnipro, the heart of Soviet Union rocket and missile production, with its construction bureau Pivdennyi and factories of Pivdenmash or Juzhmash, I believe it was only a matter of time (and financing).

In Soviet times, Dnipropetrovsk, now Dnipro, was one of the hearts of space technology as well as missile production. Spacecraft, launch vehicles, rockets, and R-36 family intercontinental ballistic missiles were produced in a city with a secret factory (NR 586) that pretended to produce tractors. At its peak, almost 100,000 inhabitants of Dnipropetrovsk were somehow related to "tractor production.".

When I was an active Deputy Mayor of my beloved "Rocket City," Dnipro, I was really interested in space and also worked on the legislation of "private space," enabling non-governmental developments in space. As Pivdenmash struggled to secure state financing, the new generation of brilliant minds began devising their own solutions, drawing on their expertise and heritage, leading to the creation of Firefly Aerospace. Max Polyakov, a Ukrainian founder from Zaporizhzhya, established Firefly with the main R&D center in Dnipro and the largest 3D printer. Before the large-scale war they even printed the parts of Firefly Alpha and shipped them to the US, where they successfully launched Alpha. In the near future, it will start taking small cargo, like satellites, to low Earth orbit in US.

Having said all of that, yes, of course, I believe that Ukraine is now one of the 11 countries that are able to develop their own ballistic missiles. In case of Ukraine, it might be a short-range ballistic missile with range up to 500km.

PS: As production rates are low and the intensity of war is high, we still need to lift the restrictions on all missiles provided by the US and allies.

Ukraine lost the first F-16. It is war. It happens.

This has been the headliner for many respected news outlets. So, yes. Ukraine lost the first of 10 F-16 fighters it received. It happens. It is war. The pilot and plane were lost in such conditions that have never been faced before by F-16s in any war—amidst the biggest Russian aerial assault with over 200 missiles and drones. The saddest part is losing the pilot, Oleksi Mes. Oleksi “Moonfish” Mes was one of the most experienced pilots that was together with his friend Andriy “Juice” Pilshchykov lobbying for F-16s and got one of the first ones that arrived in Ukraine.

By June 2022, Mes had risen to the position of squadron commander, leading a unit of MiG-29 fighters. So he was also one of the first to pass training in Denmark and take off in Ukraine's first F-16s.

People are replaceable; metal is replaceable. Was it “blue-on-blue” or friendly fire by its own Patriot missile? Maybe. However, it's important to remember that this is a war, and it was a critical situation. Human errors can occur, and the media's questions like? "will now Ukraine get the next F-16s" is irresponsible. Seven F-16s were lost during Desert Storm. They were lost in the Balkans. It is war; planes are lost. Pilots are invaluable. Andriy Pilshchykov was killed in August 2023, Oleksi Mes in August 2024. Rest in peace, heroes.

Ukraine banned Russian (not) Orthodox Church

Party spoiler, even though it says “church” and “orthodox” in its name, it does make them true Christians. The Russian Orthodox Church has turned into a militarised religious organisation preaching killing of Ukrainians, blessing nukes, and calling for Holy War. The Russian nuclear triad has its saints, pilots are blessed before every takeoff to shell Ukraine and chaplains bless soldiers going to war while calling out women to give birth to more true servants of the fatherland. No, I am not exaggerating. Please read my research on how the Kremlin has weaponized the Russian church here , or simply glance at the brief overview of the Church's activities. To summarise, Chuch has provided z-ideology, while Kremlin has provided weapons.?

Ukraine banned the Russian Orthodox Church last week, and now all the church's legal entities must either convert to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, sever all ties with Moscow, or face closure. One less Kremlin propaganda channel.?

Will Mongolia ship Putin to Hague?

Oh, wait, Mongolia cannot ship as it has no sea connection and cannot send Putin to Hague as it would mean flying over Russia or China. But let′s start from the beginning.

Next week, the self-proclaimed president, a.k.a war criminal Vladimir Putin will visit Mongolia. The country has actually signed the Rome Statute and should arrest Putin and ship to Hague to the International Criminal Court. As far as we know, Mongolia is not planning to do that though and, as rumor has it, president of Mongolia has made a promise to Xi, to keep Pu safe. Legally it can appeal to "bilateral agreements before signing the statute" and it would be actually a kind of legit reason. But then again, ICC has no jurisdiction to arrest anyone in any country and it is all down to good will of the Mongolian government. As is up to the will of Mongolian government to build and finance its part in the natural gas pipeline Siberia-2 from Russia to China that is now on hold. Russia needs any export income and having such a megaproject "on hold" cannot be good. Thank you Mongolia for pausing it and pretty please, can you now make this shipment to Hague?

Reminds me of pic of the previous president of Mongolia after listening to Tucker Carlson and Putin's interview.