The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service said the Kremlin is preparing for a possible conflict with NATO that could arise in the next decade, in particular by moving to a mass army model.

As the intelligence report explains, Russia's intentions are evidenced by army reforms initiated by Russian Defense Minister Shoigu. In particular, the Russians decided to eliminate the joint strategic commands and return to the model of command and control by types of forces and special forces. Thus, in the northwestern part of the Russian Federation, the Baltic and Northern Fleet will be transferred to the direct subordination of the Russian Navy, and the air defense will be subordinated to the Aerospace Forces. Military districts will begin to function as territorial military commands.

Another change: on February 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree “On military-administrative separation.” Now in Russia the Western Military District (WMD) will be disbanded, and in its place the Leningrad (LPO) and Moscow (MPO) military districts will be formed, as was the case before 2010. The decree, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), is a sign that Russia is preparing for war against NATO. This is due to the fact that the LPO will now cover the area along the northeastern border of NATO, and the MVO will border the northeastern part of Ukraine and Poland. This does not stretch the strategic focus, as in the case of the Western Military District, and will allow the Russian Federation to simultaneously field troops against NATO countries, optimize command and control over troops for waging war in Ukraine.

Germany has already developed a secret plan in the event of a “dramatic scenario of a hybrid large-scale Russian attack on NATO’s eastern flank” in the summer of 2025.

The first stage, according to the German military, will begin this spring with the additional mobilization of 200 thousand military personnel in Russia and the successful spring offensive of the Russian army in Ukraine until June this year. In July, Russia will begin, first covertly, and then increasingly overtly, an attack on Western countries using cyber sabotage and other hybrid methods of warfare - mainly against the Baltic countries.

In September, Russia begins large-scale Zapad 2024 exercises in western Russia and Belarus, in October it deploys medium-range missiles and builds up its troops in the Kaliningrad region, ostensibly to preempt an impending NATO attack. In fact, Russia plans to seize the narrow Suwalki corridor on the border between Poland and Lithuania and stage a border conflict there in December 2024 with numerous casualties. In May 2025, NATO decides on deterrence measures to prevent Russia from attacking the Suwalki corridor from the Kaliningrad region and from Belarus.

And then, in conditions of temporary anarchy in the United States after the presidential elections, Russia repeats the Eastern Ukrainian scenario of 2014, but on NATO territory. On “Day X,” the NATO commander-in-chief orders the transfer of 300 thousand alliance troops, including 30 thousand Bundeswehr soldiers to NATO’s eastern flank. It is not clear how the escalation ends: on the 30th day after “Day X”, half a million heavily armed Russian and NATO soldiers will confront each other in the area of the Suwalki corridor.
https://www.dw.com/ru/ataka-rossii-na-nato-eksperty-o-publikacii-v-bild/a-67985738

How much bitcoin (in percent) do you guys have of bitcoin in your overall portfolio?

I have nearly 30%, which i always thought to be quiet large.. however, I have the feelings it should be more now. at least 50%  

I have no shitcoins, just traditional investments.

An upset that probably nobody predicted. Novak Djokovic loses to Lucas Nardi in three sets. It has become one of the top upsets at Indian Wells history with Nardi being rated 123rd in the world rankings. Here's a pic of the other major upsets at the event, in the past.

Near Avdeevka, Russia lost from 16,000 of its soldiers, according to information from Russian sources,

In about another month, the occupiers will be exhausted with their big offensive since October last year. After this, the move will be for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

As for the destruction of “another stupid boat,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces are destroying all Russian warships that are used in the war against Ukraine. But in Russia, apparently, only stupid warships remain among the newest ones, since the sunken corvette Sergei Kotov became part of the Black Sea Fleet only in July 2022, that is, already during this war. Let me remind you that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were the first to sink the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva.

Ships of this design are designed to perform patrol duty, suppress smuggling and pirate activities, and search for and provide assistance to victims of maritime disasters. In wartime, also for the protection of ships and vessels during sea passage, as well as naval bases and water areas.

The French Open is still 2 months and 2 weeks away. Lets hope he will be fit again then. Otherwise it will certainly become more and more difficult for his psyche.

There is a big difference in the tactics and strategy of these actions between the offensive of the Russian invaders and the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and this explains the difference in the number of losses. The Russian offensive on a specific sector of the front is often dictated by political necessity and is carried out despite any losses in soldiers and military equipment. This happened in the battle for Bakhmut, and later for Avdeevka. If the equipment could not be used due to bad weather conditions, then soldiers were periodically sent into attacks without the necessary preparation and cover in order to capture a populated area by a certain date. Therefore, the losses were colossal. Due to such large losses, new units were transferred that did not know the terrain and fortifications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and often columns of equipment with troops walked through minefields. Despite the losses, they moved forward to carry out meaningless orders. Unlike the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where junior commanders had the right to quickly make decisions in a changed situation, the Russian troops still have the old Soviet military doctrine, according to which execution of orders is above all, even if the order is stupid in the current situation.

When the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces began last summer, armored vehicles were used, which began to be destroyed in minefields, and the infantry also suffered. Almost immediately, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine changed its tactics: frontal assaults stopped and predominantly targeted knocking out of armored vehicles, artillery, ammunition depots, command posts and accumulations of manpower and equipment began, while simultaneously clearing minefields in the dark and maneuvering small assault groups. This did not give a quick effect in liberating the territories, but it allowed to inflict heavy losses on the Russian army and saved the lives of many soldiers. At the same time, even Western analysts reported that during the counter-offensive the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost even fewer of their soldiers than the defending Russians.

As for Avdeevka, individual assault groups entered it and will enter it more than once and leave this territory after completing certain tasks.
Thus, today fresh information has appeared that in the area of the Avdeevsky coke and chemical plant, soldiers of the 3rd Special Brigade stole a Russian T-72 tank under the noses of the Russians and, under fire from a KA-52 helicopter, successfully evacuated it to the location of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

https://focus.ua/amp/voennye-novosti/631069-bylo-nemnozhko-strashno-bojcy-3-j-brigady-ukrali-u-rossiyan-tank-pod-avdeevkoj-video

If Ukraine is not helped, it will be conquered by a stronger Russia, after which Russia will certainly attack the Baltic countries - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. At the same time, Russia will force Ukrainians to fight on its side. Therefore, evil, if not stopped in time, will grow throughout the world. Other authoritarian states such as North Korea, Iran, China will take advantage of the weakness of democracy and also begin their wars of conquest. Then this will lead to the Third World War.

I present official statistics from my country, which I generally trust. I shouldn’t refer to information from Russian propaganda, which is generally far from reality.

But in your messages I don’t see any links at all to the source of the information you specified. For example, where did you get the information that Ukraine lost 500,000 of its troops killed or seriously wounded?

Are the Ukrainian Armed Forces fleeing near Avdeevka? Yes, recently three assault groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces again ran into Avdeevka itself and captured several Russians.
https://m.gazeta.ua/ru/articles/life/_v-avdeevku-voshli-ukrainskie-vojska-i-zahvatili-plennyh/1173648

Ukrainian military spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy said troops had pulled back from Sieverne and Stepove, a day after Kyiv announced it had abandoned the village of Lastochkyne.

One Ukrainian commander, Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, said on Telegram: "In the Avdiivka sector, the line of defence in the areas of Tonenke, Orlivka and Berdychi has been stabilised."

The Russians turned the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Avdeevka into a pile of small stones with the help of guided bombs weighing up to a ton or more continuously dropped from SU-34 fighter-bombers. Therefore, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were forced to retreat to the next defensive positions behind this settlement. At the same time, a few more “victories” like those at Avdeevka and the Russians will have nothing to fight with. This is especially true for tanks and armored vehicles. Only near Avdeevka, Muscovites lost more of their soldiers than the USSR during ten years of war in Afghanistan

The Russian Z-blogger Lev Vershinin publicly stated about the losses near Avdeevka. In particular, he published a letter from the wives of deceased Russian soldiers, which talks about the number of victims. For example, in regiment No. 1015, out of 2,300 people, only 30 remained. And such losses are not only in this regiment.
https://www.unian.net/war/ot-polka-ostalos-30-chelovek-z-bloger-spalil-dikie-poteri-rossii-v-avdeevke-novosti-vtorzheniya-rossii-na-ukrainu-amp- 12561381.html

But the situation in this sector of the front has stabilized after 15 Russian aircraft were shot down since February 17, that is, over the last two weeks: 12 SU-34 fighter-bombers, two SU-35 fighters and one airborne early warning and control aircraft A -50. Since yesterday evening, not a single Russian military aircraft has appeared on the eastern front.
https://glavred.info/ukraine/amp-posle-likvidacii-su-34-aviaciya-rf-ne-riskuet-vs-ne-zafiksirovali-ni-odnogo-samoleta-10546844.html

And regarding the panicked flight of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the village of Rabotino, then from February 17, when you wrote this post, the Armed Forces of Ukraine could have already retreated to Kyiv, if this had been the case in reality. But Rabotino is still under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Russians continue to die there en masse due to their continuous assaults.

By the way, today in a morning report to the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the irretrievable losses of personnel of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine amounted to 413,173 people. This was reported by the Russian public page “Kremlin Snuffbox”. Here we must also add 76,192 deaths from PMCs. Together this amounts to 489,365 people.
https://donpress.com/news/02-03-2024-v-kremle-podschitali-poteri-rossii-v-voyne-protiv-ukrainy

And most occupiers don’t even know why the  are giving their lives. A wild horde has broken into another country and is trying to kill everyone.

Rublev was indeed disqualified in the ATP Dubai tournament because of his uncontrolled anger which resulted in him saying inappropriate words to the referee and this is very regrettable incident because Rublev suffered loss in this tournament because of his own actions.
Rublev also defended himself with several statements, but the referee really gave no consideration or tolerance.
Bublik even asked the referee and ATP supervisor Roland Herfel to consider leniency and continue the match but it was all in vain.

Rublev disqualification allowed Bublik to be ranked in the top 20 and he really looked happy, but on the other hand there was also little disappointment because what he got was not purely due to hard work in winning the match.
What is surprising is that several parties stated that this decision was too quick because there was no proof or more precise truth to what Rublev said.
I myself think that the referee also made firm decision too early, everything that the head referee believed was only based on the arguments of the line referee and not on something more real and could be seen clearly by everyone.

Put these bastard regimes aside - we are GUARANTEED to get a sprawling cancerous tumor like the "Russian world", which even without nuclear weapons will destroy the civilized world, and make it, at best, a giant russia, northern correia, or similar bastard anti-human regime. Russia's threats of "nuclear dick" are just an attempt to intimidate the west, with the pathetic russian fuhrer knowing full well that once he gives the command he will be destroyed, which he is indescribably afraid of ! All tyrants are indescribably cowardly persons, it is an axiom !
Yes, what we must admit - tolerance, playing soft methods, and often corruption - allowed to give some time for such despicable regimes and gain strength. I am sure - the world has drawn conclusions, and the world's cancerous tumors will be isolated and bought. The world should live and develop, not fight and suffer !
The world economy cannot work only for war ! It is always easier to destroy, that is why such inadequate regimes choose the side of violence and destruction. To create is always more difficult !

And two more retirements today from Korda ^{against Rublev}and Lehecka ^{against Bublik}
thats strange, to be fair the schedule is quite busy, very little rest opportunities between
tournaments which are bunched together based on location.

Bublik v Rublev in the first semi final tomorrow

Two quarter finals soon:
Medvedev v Davidovich Fokina and Hurkacz v Humbert

I fancy Humbert to beat Hurkacz, he has been going very well lately ^{as has Hurkacz to be fair.}
Medvedev is going to have a tough one, the last few meetings of these two has gone the
full distance in sets.

Just treated myself to a pair of these blue things last week. $20 at Nordstrom Rack. Already ordered some Jibbitz(tm)

I beg to differ. Gold plated sticks are heavy and slippery. Disposable is the way to go IMHO!