Who saw this coming? My grotesque neighbors were irate because I claimed I was a prophet, and – only Jesus was a prophet. Jesus is dead, and, what did he prophesize? Paul claims he predicted the end of the world – that did not happen! Millions of Christians back Putin. The Republican party and millions of Republican are – GUILTY OF MALICE, SLANDER, AND TREASON by claiming the Democrats CHEATED them out of a victory!

John

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense released a time-lapse video Friday showing Russia’s territorial gains and losses during its invasion of Ukraine, calling Moscow’s effort to seize the northern part of the country a “costly failure.” 

Ukraine-Russia war: UK video shows Moscow’s ‘costly failure’ (msn.com)

PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Gov. Kristi Noem claims she will sue the Biden administration over a move to withhold funding from schools that discriminate against LGBTQ+ students.

Noem threatens to sue Biden administration over SNAP funding (msn.com)

The Russian navy’s surprising losses against Ukraine are reminders of another humiliating defeat 117 years ago (msn.com)

The Russian navy’s surprising losses against Ukraine are reminders of another humiliating defeat 117 years ago

insider@insider.com (Benjamin Brimelow) – 3h ago

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• Russia’s navy has taken high-profile losses against a outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian adversary.
• The losses themselves are not catastrophic for Russia’s navy but they are blows to Russian prestige.
• They also come a little over a century after another Russian naval debacle on the other side of the world.

Since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine in late February, the Russian navy has suffered high-profile losses against a heavily outnumbered and outgunned adversary.

The Russians have lost at least five Raptor-class patrol boats, one Tapir-class landing ship, one Serna-class landing craft, and most notably the Moskva, a Slava-class guided-missile cruiser that was also the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.

The losses themselves are not catastrophic for the Russian navy and are unlikely to alter the course of the war or the balance of power in the Black Sea, but they are blows to Russian prestige and come a little over a century after another historic debacle for Russia: the Battle of Tsushima, the last time a Russian navy flagship was sunk in combat.

Fought in the waters between Korea and southern Japan by ships of the Japanese and Russian empires on May 27 and 28 in 1905, the battle cemented Japan’s rise as an equal to Western powers and had a lasting impact on both Japan and Russia.

Competing empires

© Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty ImagesA print of Japanese warships steaming to bombard Port Arthur during the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images

Tensions between the Japanese and Russian empires had been building since Japan’s overwhelming victory in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895.

Japan, equipped with an organized, modern army, was pursuing ambitions in Korea and China that brought it dangerously close to Russian interests, especially in Manchuria and Korea.

Of particular importance to the Russians was Port Arthur, now Dalian, a Chinese port that was leased to Russia and was its only warm-water Pacific port. Port Arthur became the headquarters of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and there were plans to connect it to Russia via the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Negotiations between Japan and Russia over the future of the region went nowhere, and so, on February 8, 1904, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the main part of the Russian Pacific Fleet at Port Arthur, formally declaring war hours later.

© Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesMen on shore in front of the Russian ships Pallada, left, and Pobida, after they were sunk at Port Arthur in 1904. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Japan gained a naval advantage relatively quickly. It fought off an attempt by the main part of the Russian Pacific Fleet to break the blockade of Port Arthur and largely defeated Russia’s Vladivostok-based squadrons at Chemulpo Bay and Ulsan — victories that allowed Japan to effectively dominate the Pacific.

Unwilling to concede defeat, and with Japanese ground forces beginning a siege of Port Arthur itself, Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II ordered the creation of the 2nd Pacific Squadron, which was to be made up of ships from the Baltic Fleet.

Commanded by Vice Adm. Zinovy Rozhestvensky, the 2nd Pacific Squadron was composed of some 40 ships, including 11 pre-dreadnought battleships, nine cruisers, and nine destroyers.

Sailing from the Baltic in October 1904, they were supposed to relieve the Pacific Fleet at Port Arthur, destroy any Japanese ships they encountered, and cut the supply lines between Japan and mainland Asia.

Russia’s doomed fleet

© Official photographImperial Russian battleship Knyaz’ Suvorov, the Russian flagship at the Battle of Tsushima, in Kronshtadt near St. Petersburg in August 1904. Official photograph

Russia’s navy had been modernized in during the latter half of the 1800s, but while the 2nd Pacific Squadron appeared strong on paper, it was not a first-rate naval force. Some of the warships were new and untested, but many were old and bordered on obsolete. Others were little more than auxiliary ships with guns mounted on them.

Russian Navy leadership was also of low quality. Many of its officers came from wealthy and connected families who simply bought their commissions. The rank-and-file sailors were not much more professional, as many of them were inexperienced conscripts.

These issues were on full display during the seven-month, 18,000-mile journey to the Pacific.

While in the North Sea near England, the fleet opened fire on British fishing trawlers, somehow thinking they were Japanese torpedo boats. Two fishermen were killed, one was injured, and one trawler was sunk with four more damaged. In the chaos, some of the Russian ships even fired on each other, causing casualties and damage.

© Official photographImperial Russian battleship Borodino at Kronshtadt near St. Petersburg in August 1904. Official photograph

Diplomatic maneuvering managed to prevent the British from joining the war on the side of Japan, but the Russian fleet’s troubles were only beginning.

Most of the fleet sailed around Africa rather than through the Suez Canal. The longer journey took a toll on the crews, who had never experienced such a different climate or such a long time at sea. The ships themselves were also under considerable strain. During gunnery practice with a mock target towed by a cruiser, the only thing the fleet hit was the cruiser.

With no allies, the Russians couldn’t dock in friendly ports, and so they had to take on more coal while at sea. Conditions on the ships deteriorated, and a number of sailors died of disease and respiratory issues.

By the time the fleet was in Madagascar in January, Port Arthur had fallen. Their mission was then changed: They were to meet the remnants of Russia’s Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok before engaging the Japanese in a decisive battle.