#il-76

Members of the puppet government which Russia set up in the occupied city of Tokmak are apparently leaving as the Ukrainian military advanced to within 20 km of town.

That’s according to the information of locals reported by Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, which is the next occupied Ukrainian city in the area. “The occupiers are being smoked out of Tokmak. Almost daily explosions and the liberation of settlements in the Melitopol direction transform Tokmak, which is still occupied, to a completely front-line city,” Fedorov said. While the initial distance from the Russian-occupied city of Tokmak to the frontline was about 31 km, it is now less than 20 km as the Ukrainian army advanced, taking Robotyne and areas around it. The Ukrainian army has reached the second line of Russian defense in the area.

A few days ago Ukraine liberated the village of Robotyne. Ukraine's goal is to reach the Sea of Azov and thereby cut the Russian-occupied territories in two.

As was reported, following the liberation of Robotyne, Ukrainian troops are continuing their offensive in Melitopol direction in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, bypassing minefields and advancing towards the second line of defense of the Russian Army.

In other news, Ukrainian drones damaged four large Russian Il-76 transport planes in the city of Pskov near the border with Estonia.

Russian Il-76 military plane crashes in Belgorod region, Russia, January 24, 2024. Source: NEXTA

“The US military had this huge generator they needed to get to an airfield site they were planning in the south. This was a remote area, and aside from a few pockets of US troops, it was completely under bandit control. There was no fuel available for miles around the landing spot, and none of the outfits we approached would touch it with a bargepole. They all kept saying, “We’ll never get out again, how can we take off from an unprepared airfield with no fuel?” ‘The job was priced at between sixty thousand and seventy thousand dollars, but one day there’s a phone call from these Russian guys. They said, “We’ll do it, but it’ll cost you two million dollars, in advance.” The Americans didn’t really have a choice by this stage, so they paid. And sure enough, right on time, this ex-Soviet air force crew flew in, with the generator, in this battered old Il-76, unloaded the generator, then sat down for a leisurely smoke. ‘Just as all the Americans were wondering how on earth they were going to fly out again, there’s a cloud of dust and up clatters this old minibus driven by some Afghan bloke – and these airmen just get in and drive off. The Yanks were all going, “Hey, how will you get the plane back?” And the crew just said, “We won’t. It’s an old one – we only bought it for this job, and we’re ditching it here.” Half a million dollars it cost them, and they held it together with string just long enough to land, then cleared off one and a half million dollars in profit and left it to rust. It’s still there.”