#tally training programs

[ccubetechnologies]

C Cube Technologies erode

C Cube Technologies is the major software training centre in erode. Our students often get good outcomes in the courses we provide in CAD/CAM, CS/IT, Textile/Fashion, Tally/GST, Electrical/Electronics, Digital Marketing, Web development, and Overseas Consultancy. C Cube has facilities in Trichy, Salem, Salem, Erode, and Coimbatore where it offers its services.

[gtiaindia]

Factors That Influence the Duration of An Accountant Course

The level of education, study mode, previous education and experience, curriculum, accreditation, and professional certification requirements all play a role in determining how long it will take to complete your accountant course.

[cacmsinsitute]

The Tally Training Journey for Aspiring Accountants

In the ever-changing financial landscape, ambitious accountants seek not only proficiency, but mastery of accounting instruments. Tally, a comprehensive accounting programme that has become a financial management cornerstone, is one such important ability. This essay goes into the transforming journey of Tally training for aspiring accountants and the critical role it plays in moulding their professional destiny.

1. Understand the Fundamentals: The journey begins with a thorough comprehension of the fundamentals. Tally training for aspiring accountants covers the fundamentals, from forming a firm to recording day-to-day transactions. This phase lays the groundwork for a good understanding of the software's essential functions.

2. Navigating sophisticated Features: As the adventure progresses, ambitious accountants get more familiar with Tally's sophisticated features. Training programmes frequently address complex subjects including inventory management, legislative compliance, and sophisticated financial reporting. This phase teaches learners how to manage complex financial problems with ease.

3. Practical practice: Tally training goes beyond theoretical knowledge, emphasizing hands-on practical practice. Aspiring accountants participate in real-world simulations, using Tally skills to tackle realistic accounting difficulties. This hands-on experience improves their problem-solving ability and instills confidence in dealing with a variety of financial problems.

4. Customisation and Integration: Learning to customize the software to meet specific business demands is an important aspect of the Tally training journey. Integration with other business tools and software is also investigated, providing aspiring accountants with a comprehensive understanding of how Tally fits into the larger technology environment.

5. Industry-Related Case Studies: Industry-related case studies are frequently included in the Tally training process. Aspiring accountants examine real-world examples to learn how Tally is used in various industries. This experience improves their versatility and prepares them for the diverse needs of the professional environment.

6. Ongoing Learning and Updating: The world of technology is ever-changing, and Tally is no exception. Training programmes ensure that aspiring accountants are up to date on the latest features and improvements. Continuous learning is encouraged, promoting an adaptable attitude and keeping experts up to date on industry developments.

Conclusion: The Tally training path for prospective accountants is a transformative experience that goes beyond mere software skill. It offers a comprehensive examination of financial management, problem-solving, and adaptation. As Tally continues to be a driving force in modern accounting, the journey equips professionals not only with skills but also with a mindset tailored for success in the dynamic world of finance. Enrolling in Tally training is more than simply an investment in education; it is an investment in a promising and effective accounting career.

Begin your Tally training journey with CACMS Institute, the leading Tally training institute in Amritsar. Improve your abilities with hands-on practical instruction. Enroll now! For further information, please contact us at +91 8288040281 or visit

[vtechiepteltd]

Elevate your skills with V-Techie! Explore a diverse range of online courses with certifications, including Data Science, Full Stack Development, Python Mastery, Web Designing, and more. Join our expert-led programs for a transformative learning experience and unlock new career opportunities. Your journey to expertise begins at V-Techie.

[accounting-course]

Which Computer Course Is Best For Accountant?

The George Telegraph Institute of Accounts Accounting and Taxation is the provider of the Accounting & Taxation Course & Workshop. The training covers all of the modern abilities, including bank reconciliation, sales tax, and Tally ERP 9. One of the best places to learn about taxation is the George Telegraph Institute of Accounts accounting and taxation. It is a premier tax advisor from the Indian city of Kolkata. The topics also include VAT / CST / PT e-Returns & Tax, service tax, and income calculation. Highly advised is taking this course.

[probablyasocialecologist]

“These kinds of hidden disasters happen far too frequently,” Mathy Stanislaus, who served as assistant administrator of the EPA’s office of land and emergency management during the Obama administration, told the Guardian. Stanislaus led programs focused on the cleanup of contaminated hazardous waste sites, chemical plant safety, oil spill prevention and emergency response. In the first seven weeks of 2023 alone, there were more than 30 incidents recorded by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, roughly one every day and a half. Last year the coalition recorded 188, up from 177 in 2021. The group has tallied more than 470 incidents since it started counting in April 2020. The incidents logged by the coalition range widely in severity but each involves the accidental release of chemicals deemed to pose potential threats to human and environmental health.

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 A Palestinian family is besieged in their home by the Zionist occupation army, while occupation tanks and warplanes fire shells and bomb the surrounding neighborhood, terrorizing the remaining residents as Israeli drones buzz overhead. ]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

DAY 266 OF ISRAELI GENOCIDE IN THE GAZA STRIP: ZIONIST ARMY ADVANCES FURTHER INTO AL-SHUJAIYA, OCCUPATION ARMY BOMBS CIVILIAN TENTS, FUEL AND MEDICINE SHORTAGE COSTING LIVES AS AMBULANCES NO LONGER OPERATE, GALLANT PLANS FOR "DAY AFTER" GENOCIDE ENDS, SLAUGHTER OF CIVILIANS CONTINUES

On 266th day of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 3 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 47 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, while another 52 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

It should be noted that as a result of the constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza's healthcare system, infrastructure, residential and commercial buildings, local paramedic and civil defense crews are unable to recover countless hundreds, even thousands, of victims who remain trapped under the rubble, or who's bodies remain strewn across the streets of Gaza.

This leaves the official death toll vastly undercounted as Gaza's healthcare officials are unable to accurately tally those killed and maimed in this genocide, which must be kept in mind when considering the scale of the mass murder.

The Zionist entity's Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, has discussed plans for the "day after" the war in Gaza ends, speaking with his American counterparts to present a new plan that would see the besieged Gaza Strip divided into 24 districts and occupied by a number of Arab countries, to will be directed by the United States.

Gallant 's plan looks to form a committee staffed by the United States and "moderate" Arab countries, who would oversee an international occupying force including soldiers from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Morrocco.

The Arab-American occupying forces would be overseen by the United States, who would be responsible for security in the Gaza Strip, including logistics, as well as command and control, while gradually, a Palestinian force would inherit responsibility for the security of Gaza.

Gallant has supposedly worked out an agreement with the Americans that would see Palestinian security forces undergo special training through a U.S. aid program.

The plan reflects the current position of the Israeli occupation's security establishment, despite occupation Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's, public statements rejecting the idea.

Gallant 's plan would be implemented in several stages, beginning with the northern Gaza Strip and working its way south as conditions allow.

"Galant envisions 24 active administrative districts in Gaza," reporting in the Washington Post writes, "however, in the US, they are pessimistic about the possibility that the program will soon expand to many regions."

American officials say they support Gallant 's "day after" plan, but Arab countries have rejected the idea unless the Palestinian Authority is directly involved, an idea previously rejected by the Occupation's Prime Minister.

The participating Arab states also say they want a "political horizon" for the establishment of a Palestinian state, which has also been rejected in Netanyahu's public statements.

In other news today, Friday, June 28th, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) is once again warning that Palestinian citizens of the Gaza Strip are in "dire need of healthcare", explaining how only a small number of health centers are currently operating in the Palestinian enclave.

A recent post by UNRWA to the social media platform X cautioned that a shortage of fuel and medicine is taking a severe toll on emergency services, stressing that safe and sustainable access to aid can be delayed no longer.

Similarly, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has raised concerns over the lack of security in Gaza, while Israeli military movements and attacks in Gaza's south remain a major obstacle to humanitarian operations, adding that several Israeli attacks have targeted the Al-Mawasi area of central Gaza, where thousands of Palestinian families have saught shelter.

OCHA says its partners working on the ground in Gaza have warned of power outages due to fuel shortages, which continue to endanger the lives of critically ill and wounded Palestinians, and also hampers efforts to respond to the multitude of crises in the Strip.

The UN humanitarian agency also said it continues working to respond to the crises in potable drinking water supplies, which continue to shrink under the relentless attacks of the Israeli occupation army on Gaza's infrastructure, including water wells.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has also issued dire warnings that 18 ambulances have now been put out of service, a full 36% of their fleet, as a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing closure of the Rafah and Karm Abu Salem border crossings, leading to a lack of fuel and rendering PRCS's ambulances inoperable.

In a statement published on Thursday, PRCS said that it "has not received its daily share of gasoline through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for about eight days, which covered only 6% of the operating capacity of ambulances, due to the Israeli occupation preventing the entry of fuel into the Strip."

"Before receiving the amount of gasoline allocated to the association stopped, the amount received had declined to reach only 3% of the daily need for ambulances," the statement added.

PRCS also warned of a decline in its ability to provide ambulance and emergency services in the coming days due to the fuel shortage, while the Israeli occupation continues its closure of the southern border crossings, ongoing for the last 52 days, explaining that "the quantities of fuel entering through the Kerem Abu Salem crossing do not meet the needs of the medical and relief sectors."

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society went on to appeal to the international community for "urgent intervention" to reopen the Rafah crossing, and to allow the free flow of humanitarian aid, and fuel in particular. With the hope being to avert a complete collapse of Gaza's health system as hospital electricity generators stop working, and as ambulances run out of fuel, and while water desalinization plants and drainage networks fail.

Meanwhile, in other news, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued its genocide in the Gaza Strip, advancing into the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, while occupation bombing and shelling hammers residential homes, public infrastructure, tents of the displaced, and civilians in the streets.

On Friday, June 28th, neighborhoods east, southeast and southwest of Gaza City suffered under extreme bombardment, while intense clashes between the Palestinian resistance forces and the occupation army raged in the city, and as occupation forces intensified their bombing and shelling of sites in the city.

The violent clashes and endless bombardment meant that local paramedic and civil defense crews were unable to reach the sites of dead and wounded Palestinians, leaving them trapped under the rubble with their injuries to die.

Resistance forces with the Al-Quds Brigades, belonging to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), confirmed they detonated an Israeli military vehicle with explosives, while ambushing and engaging Zionist forces on Talat al-Muntar and its surroundings, east of the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood.

The Israeli occupation army announced the injection of the 98th Division into the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood, where the forces carried out a military operation in the east of Gaza City over the last day, while Israeli military aircraft conducted continuous airstrikes in conjunction with the occupation's ongoing artillery shelling.

The Zionist army also continues its targeting of the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, using armored vehicles and Merkava tanks to shell citizen's homes, in conjunction with the bombing of Israeli fighter jets.

As the Israeli occupation forces advanced with tanks and armored vehicles into Al-Shujaiya, the Israeli air forces bombed ahead of their ground forces, causing several massacres.

Local medical sources in Gaza reported receiving the bodies of dozens of civilians who were killed, along with others who were wounded, in the bombardment of Al-Shujaiya after several raids of the neighborhood.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that its crews had responded to more than 30 wounded citizens, declaring the majority of victims to be women and children.

Another assault by Israeli drones and aircraft targeted residential buildings in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, also east of Gaza City, along with the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of the city, resulting in several casualties.

According to local civil defense and paramedic crews, the bodies of at least 7 Palestinians have been recovered since dawn in the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, while the decomposing bodies of four citizens were recovered from the Nabulsi area of the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood, southwest of the city.

One citizen was also killed when a Zionist drone targeted a clinic in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.

At the same time, the Israeli occupation forces launched attacks on the tents of displaced Palestinian families in the Rafah Governate, resulting large numbers of casualties.

According to Anadolu News Agency, at least 11 Palestinian civilians were killed, and more than 40 others wounded, after the Israeli warplanes bombed the tents of the displaced in the Al-Mawasi area, west of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation's war crimes continued when a Zionist army drone bombed various locations near the Al-Shawka municipality, east of Rafah, killing two Palestinian citizens and wounding a number of others.

Simultaneously, Israeli soldiers fired live bullets towards a gathering of civilians on Al-Rashid Al-Sahili Street, west of the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of two Palestinians and wounding several others. The dead and wounded were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah.

North of Gaza, Zionist artillery detatchments shelled the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, with no casualties reported in the strike.

Israeli fighter jets bombarded, at dawn today, residential homes in the central Gaza Strip, while also bombing civilian tents west of Rafah, killing 4 Palestinian citizens, include a woman and a child.

In another atrocity, Zionist warplanes bombed a residential house belonging to the Abu Qunais family during raids on Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, after which, local residents and civil defense crews managed to recover the bodies of three citizens, including a child, from under the rubble of their home.

Several Palestinians were also wounded after occupation artillery shelling pummeled the regional junction, southwest of the city of Khan Yunis, south of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation aircraft bombed residential buildings in the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, killing four civilians and wounding at least 16 others who were taken to Al-Awda Hospital in Al-Nuseirat.

Further bombing by occupation fighter jets targeted the town of Al-Zawaida, in central Gaza, killing a number of Palestinians and wounding even more, while a young man was killed, and another wounded, after Zionist sniper fire targeted the men in the vicinity of Al-Alam roundabout, west of Rafah City.

IOF fighter jets also bombed a residential house in the vicinity of the Al-Baraka area in the city of Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, leading to the deaths of two civilians, including one child, while two others were killed in a bombing of a house on Al-Bi'ah Street in the same city.

In yet another war crime, Israeli occupation forces directly targeted Civil Defense personnel in their workplace in the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, killing three employees and wounding a number of others.

As a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the infinitely rising death toll stands at 37'765 Palestinians killed, including at least 10'000 women and over 15'000 children, while another 86'429 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

June 28th, 2024

(Death toll and figures for June 27th, 2024; No updated figures for death toll were provided on today's date.)

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#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[leviathan-supersystem]

Mike DeWine, the Ohio governor, recently lamented the toll taken on the residents of East Palestine after the toxic train derailment there, saying “no other community should have to go through this”.

But such accidents are happening with striking regularity. A Guardian analysis of data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and by non-profit groups that track chemical accidents in the US shows that accidental releases – be they through train derailments, truck crashes, pipeline ruptures or industrial plant leaks and spills – are happening consistently across the country.

By one estimate these incidents are occurring, on average, every two days.

“These kinds of hidden disasters happen far too frequently,” Mathy Stanislaus, who served as assistant administrator of the EPA’s office of land and emergency management during the Obama administration, told the Guardian. Stanislaus led programs focused on the cleanup of contaminated hazardous waste sites, chemical plant safety, oil spill prevention and emergency response.

In the first seven weeks of 2023 alone, there were more than 30 incidents recorded by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, roughly one every day and a half. Last year the coalition recorded 188, up from 177 in 2021. The group has tallied more than 470 incidents since it started counting in April 2020.

The incidents logged by the coalition range widely in severity but each involves the accidental release of chemicals deemed to pose potential threats to human and environmental health.

In September, for instance, nine people were hospitalized and 300 evacuated in California after a spill of caustic materials at a recycling facility. In October, officials ordered residents to shelter in place after an explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in Louisiana. In November, more than 100 residents of Atchinson, Kansas, were treated for respiratory problems and schools were evacuated after an accident at a beverage manufacturing facility created a chemical cloud over the town.

Among multiple incidents in December, a large pipeline ruptured in rural northern Kansas, smothering the surrounding land and waterways in 588,000 gallons of diluted bitumen crude oil. Hundreds of workers are still trying to clean up the pipeline mess, at a cost pegged at around $488m.

The precise number of hazardous chemical incidents is hard to determine because the US has multiple agencies involved in response, but the EPA told the Guardian that over the past 10 years, the agency has “performed an average of 235 emergency response actions per year, including responses to discharges of hazardous chemicals or oil”. The agency said it employs roughly 250 people devoted to the EPA’s emergency response and removal program.

[...]

The EPA itself says that by several measurements, accidents at facilities are becoming worse: evacuations, sheltering and the average annual rate of people seeking medical treatment stemming from chemical accidents are on the rise. Total annual costs are approximately $477m, including costs related to injuries and deaths.

“Accidental releases remain a significant concern,” the EPA said.

In August, the EPA proposed several changes to the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations that apply to plants dealing with hazardous chemicals. The rule changes reflect the recognition by EPA that many chemical facilities are located in areas that are vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, including power outages, flooding, hurricanes and other weather events.

The proposed changes include enhanced emergency preparedness, increased public access to information about hazardous chemicals risks communities face and new accident prevention requirements.

The US Chamber of Commerce has pushed back on stronger regulations, arguing that most facilities operate safely, accidents are declining and that the facilities impacted by any rule changes are supplying “essential products and services that help drive our economy and provide jobs in our communities”. Other opponents to strengthening safety rules include the American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute.

The changes are “unnecessary” and will not improve safety, according to the American Chemistry Council.

Many worker and community advocates, such as the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, (UAW), which represents roughly a million laborers, say the proposed rule changes don’t go far enough.

[duckprintspress]

In honor of the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots – June 28th, 1969 – Duck Prints Press is thrilled to share with you how we’re celebrating Pride Month: with queer stories, of course!

Introducing our Pride 2023 Bundles: two collections of short stories, one general imprint, one erotica, each priced at a discounted $19.69, with all purchases benefiting two wonderful queer charities selected by the authors of the stories in the bundles: The Ali Forney Center and the Transgender Law Center.

We’ll be donating roughly 35% of the proceeds from these bundles to charity – the Press is donating 10% off the top, and many of the authors chose to donate part of their royalties as well, bringing the totals to approximately 40% of the list price of the erotica collection and approximately 35% of the list price of the general imprint collection.

How This Works

you buy one or both bundles between now and July 28th, 2023.

we tally up all the proceeds earned and do some math-e-magic to figure out how much we’re donating!

we divide the charity share in half right down the middle and, within the first week of August, we donate raised money to the Ali Forney Center and the Transgender Law Center; then, we post the proof we’ve done so.

you get fantastic stories!

we all get that happy, glowy feeling of knowing that money has been well-spent on fantastic causes!

About the Press

Duck Prints Press is a queer-owned indie press, founded to publish original works by fancreators. We’ve been in operation for over 2 years, and in that time we’ve worked with well over 150 creators to publish four anthologies and almost 70 other stories, from shorts to novels, and we’ve got more on the works (our fifth anthology is Kickstarting RIGHT NOW, as a matter of fact!). The vast majority of our creators and their creations are queer/LGTBQIA+ (maybe even all, but we don’t out anyone and we don’t ask demography because, frankly, it’s none of our business).

20 of our authors have chosen to include their short stories in one or both of these short story bundles, and these 20 and others nominated charities, then voted to narrow it down to these two! Participation in these bundles was entirely voluntarily, as was choosing to donate shares of royalties, which about a third of the authors have opted to do.

About the Charities

Note: These charities are not affiliated with the Press, do not know we’re doing this fundraiser, have not endorsed this in anyway and are, as such, utterly uninvolved in this beyond being the beneficiaries of our efforts! Text is from the websites of each charity and is being used under fair use laws.

The Ali Forney Center was founded in 2002. Committed to saving the lives of LGBTQ+ young people, our mission is to protect them from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently. A 24-hour program, The Ali Forney Center never closes its doors. We provide more than just a bed and food for those in need — from initial intake at our drop-in center to transitional housing and job readiness training, we provide homeless LGBTQ+ youth a safe, warm, supportive environment to escape the streets [of New York City].

Transgender Law Center is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Since 2002 we’ve been organizing, assisting, informing and empowering thousands of individual community members towards a long-term, national, trans-led movement for liberation.

About the Bundles

(this is getting long, so read more...)

We’re offering two bundles: one containing 14 stories from our general imprint, the other containing 11 stories from our erotica imprint. For all the deets, you’ll need to visit the page for each story, but here’s an overview…

Titles in the General Imprint Charity Bundle:

A Mutual Interest by Alec J. Marsh

The Problem with Wishes by Annabeth Lynch

Let the Solstice Come by D. V. Morse

Warmer Lights by Era J. M. Couts

An Odd Gathering of Peculiar Cats by J. D. Harlock

Dead Man’s Bells by Nicola Kapron

Widow’s Black by Nina Waters

twin flames by nottesilhouette

A Shield for the People by Puck Malamud

Much Ruckus by R. L. Houck

Bubble, Bubble by Sage Mooreland

Settling Down by Theresa Tanner

Best Friends AND… by Tris Lawrence

To Fill My Cup by Violet J. Hayes

Approximately 35% of the $19.69 list price of this bundle will go to the charities.

Titles in the Erotica Imprint Charity Bundle:

Pas de Deux by Aeryn Jemariel Knox

Study Hall by Alec J. Marsh

A Safe Place to Land by boneturtle

Clerical Error by Dei Walker

In the Moonlight by E. V. Dean

We All Need to Get By by Lyn Weaver

The Fated Prince by Mikki Madison

Lust by Nina Waters

No One Right Way by R. L. Houck

Easier Than Expected by Samantha M. Piper

Urchin Juiced by Xianyu Zhou

Approximately 40% of the $19.69 list price of this bundle will go to the charities.

What are you waiting for? Come get some great stories, support a queer-owned business this Pride, and benefit two fantastic causes. Win-win-win situations don’t get much better than this!

These bundles will only be available for one month, so don’t miss out. Visit our webstore between now and July 28th and get yours!

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Total $hit$how: Bombs Away

in which Joy overcomes her boredom

cw: adult language

previous ///// masterlist ///// next

×~×~×

Things went from exciting to uneventful in record time. Even though they were on a supposed ‘tight schedule’, all they did was train and practice and practice and train.

Joy was no stranger to training overkill; she'd experienced it plenty in the army, but that at least made some sense. The army was full of dumbass kids who came in not knowing which way was up. Here wasn't. 

...With maybe the exception of Harbor. The guy looked thirty, but sure as hell acted like a dumbass kid. It was hard for her to pinpoint how old he actually was.

Not that it really mattered. No matter their age, skill, or background, they were all monkeys in the same shitshow.

They'd been here for close to a week now, and they still hadn't been given more info for the all important file. Not to mention the fact that the mission made no sense to her.

Sure, they were all skilled. Jericho had proven he could bust down cyber walls better than a digital wrecking crew, and she'd seen Benji crack every lock Sahota tossed his way in seconds. Even Kaius, for all his insufferability, was adept at finding little details the rest of them missed. And though Harbor followed directions about as well as a deaf rat would follow the pied piper, he still had the biotech to give him an edge on whatever Sahota tasked them with.

Skills aplenty. But why couldn't whoever’d sought them out just helo some mercenaries to whatever floor the secret tech shit was on and bust it up? Why did it require so much finesse? If it was so important, if leaving the program alone would potentially doom the city, what was with all the secrecy? And maybe most importantly, why couldn't the almighty Sahota and Vic do it themselves?

It probably wasn't her business. She probably just didn't care enough about the polite subtleties tech conglomerates required to give a shit.

But the powers that be demanded secrets and fine tuning, so fuck it, she'd play their game.

Training was fun enough, but Joy could stand to complain about their downtime options. As far as she could tell, they could either read, work out in the gym that was set up on the far side of the training room, or mindlessly wander the hallways.

She'd checked out the little library, and hadn't found many books she was interested in reading. There was barely a shelf's worth of nonfiction; old equipment manuals and biographies of people she’d never heard of. There was a significantly higher amount of classic literature. The kind of shit you had to read in school, and probably her least favorite genre. She'd sifted through the paperbacks anyway, if only out of boredom. The most worn book was a copy of the dreaded 1984, and when she flipped through its pages, she found tally marks. A shit ton of them, like someone had been bored and just wanted to see how many they could make.

There were maybe a hundred to a page, carefully drawn in the margins. Weird as they were, Joy couldn't find anything that gave them context, even after devoting an evening to checking the rest of the books for markings.

Maybe someone had a weird sense of humor and just wanted to put down 1,984 tallies. Either way, it didn't seem worth it to lose her mind over, so at the end of the night, she'd just shelved it and gone to bed. That had only been day two. Who knew how much time she'd have to kill while waiting for the mission to kick off?

The compound was woefully lacking in the engineering department. It didn't even have a proper toolbox, at least not one she'd been able to find, and Joy resorted to swiping little bits of cutlery and disposables to build shit. Nothing useful, just little things to entertain herself.

Day three, she made a working crossbow out of toothpicks and dental floss. Day four, a tiny model plane crafted from broken plastic cutlery. By day seven, she was on the verge of dismembering the AC unit in her room, just to see if she'd be able to fix it without a manual.

Joy pondered if it would be worth it as the crew stood half-awake on the sparring side of the training room, waiting for the morning’s session to begin. Of course, she didn't exactly have tools, but maybe she could improvise something.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed everyone else suddenly look towards the door, and made an effort to point her gaze in the same direction and pretend to pay attention, even though her mind was elsewhere.

It was Vic who walked in. A little weird, since it was usually Sahota strutting through the doors, but Joy brushed it off.

“Good morning, everyone,” Vic said.

“Good morning,” she parroted with the rest.

Maybe she could find a butter knife in the kitchen? With enough dedication, she could probably shape it into a half-decent flathead.

“I heard you've all been doing well in your training,” Vic continued.

What if she ran into an allen bolt though? Well, if it wasn't recessed she could probably finger-loosen it with enough dedication, but if it was—

“Today I'm going to test your skills.”

Joy's gaze suddenly sharpened. A test? That was new. Did that mean they were finally close to getting this show on the road? She raised her hand, and waited for Vic to look her way.

“How are you gonna do that?”

“I've laid out a mock mission. I'll give you all an objective, and see how quickly you can meet it. And perhaps more importantly, how you meet it.” He folded his arms, offering a friendly smile. “I'm afraid I haven't had the time to watch every one of Sahota's sessions. I’d like to see how it's coming along with my own eyes.”

“Where is Sahota?” Kaius asked from beside her.

“He's on a mission. A real one.” Vic chuckled. “Can't come to the phone right now and all that.”

“What sort of mission?”

“Well now, I can't go handing you all the details, Mr. Manak. I'm sure you understand.”

Joy had already assumed Sahota was going somewhere. This morning, she'd caught him and Vic in the kitchen and she swore they'd been about to kiss. She'd awkwardly excused herself then ran to tell Jericho.

Poor Jer needed something to distract himself with. The two of them had learned that there was no wifi in the computer lab way back on day one. And since they couldn't leave the compound and didn't have communication devices of their own, that meant they were effectively cut off from the rest of the world.

Which did make sense, considering all the top secrets they'd supposedly be exposed to. Not to mention the fact that the base’s location was probably a secret in itself.

Joy could deal. Her family was used to her going months without contact. Jer, on the other hand, was used to working from home. He had a kid now, a six year old daughter, and fuck had it really been that long since she'd last seen him?

They’d only had a semester's worth of compsci partnership before she'd deployed for the third time, but they'd really hit it off. Kept in touch, more or less, though she'd never mentioned her shady weapons dealings and he'd never mentioned his secret hacker missions. Which made them even. And now their respective skills had brought them back together, so Joy couldn't complain.

She was a little hurt that he'd never mentioned his kid, but given his skillset, she got it. You could never be too safe when you had both a family and a dangerous hobby.

“Her name's Arabella,” he'd told her, passing over a wallet-sized photo of a grinning girl with an assortment of wildflowers poking out of her softly-coiled afro. “Her mom took that on her birthday this year. She wanted a fairy princess party. That's the reason for all the flowers.”

“She's adorable.”

“She's a handful,” Jer said, smiling a proud-dad smile as he put away the picture. “She's the only reason I agreed to do this.”

Joy didn't have to ask what he meant. She didn't know what was at stake for the rest of the team, but for the two of them, it was just as much about protecting their loved ones as it was staying out of jail. It wasn't the government she had to worry about, or pride, or how society might judge her family. It was old enemies. People who would see her picture on the news and suddenly know where to look for her weaknesses. She imagined Jericho was in the exact same boat.

Vic clapped his hands together; a relatively soft sound, but enough to jerk her focus back into the moment.

“If everyone is ready, I'll brief you on your tasking.” He strolled over to one of the built-in metal cabinets that lined the sparring area, punching in a code on a keypad that prompted the doors to slide open. Inside, on the shelves, were what Joy could only describe as high-tech basketballs.

Or at least they were roughly the size and shape of a basketball. Most similarities ended there. They were smooth metal, with fine seams that suggested interior electronics, and a lense that was almost like… no shit.

“Are those robots?” Joy blurted out, forgetting to raise her hand this time.

Vic smiled. “Sharp, Miss Cavan. They are. Or drones, rather.” He took one in his hands, thumbing a button on the side, and the thing whirred to life, lifting itself from Vic’s grasp and hovering there.

Joy watched it with wide eyes. How was it floating? There was no propelling system or engine she could see, was it—?

“Electromagnetism,” Vic said, as if answering her thoughts. “We have a weak field that covers the training grounds.”

“Fancy stuff,” Jericho murmured.

“Is that our task?” Benji asked, gesturing at the drone. It swiveled in the air, facing its camera towards him, and he took a cautious step back. “Those… thingies?”

“On the contrary,” Vic said, moving to activate the other two. “The drones will act as a stand-in for armed security guards. They'll attempt to prevent you from reaching your goal.”

Benji gave an exaggerated wince. “But the drones aren't armed, are they?”

“They are.”

Joy's eyes flew to the trio of bots, scanning for weapons capabilities. Based on their size, they didn't have the carrying capacity for ammo or a full auto system. Not that she assumed Vic was willing to shoot them, but…

“Each drone is equipped with the equivalent of a cattle prod. Nothing that'll do permanent damage, but enough to give you a sting.”

Benji took a bigger step backwards. At this point, Joy was probably the only one in range of said ‘equivalent of a cattle prod’, but she didn't care. If anything, she wanted them to come at her so she could watch how they deployed their attack. Fuck, she’d give her left arm to take one of these apart. Maybe Vic would let her mess around with their armaments? She could probably devise a ranged electrical attack, if she could just get a look at the internals. She'd done similar shit in the gun shop, and she'd worked with some low-grade drones when she was still running arms overseas. Shouldn't be too tough to combine the two.

“What is our task?” Kaius took a step forward, so that he was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her, his eyes on the drones. “What goal will they be trying to prevent us from reaching?”

At that, Vic drew out another metallic device, this one boxy and covered in so many screens and buttons Joy figured most were just for decoration.

Vic set it down, typing a quick sequence into a keypad next to the cabinet. A giant sound, like stone dominoes, echoed out from behind them, and Joy whirled around.

The concrete pad that stretched between the sparring mats and the gym equipment was moving, shifting around like tectonic fucking plates and rearranging into something that looked like an abstract painting; huge cement cubes stacking into a maze of stairs that nearly reached the ceiling.

“Holy shit,” Joy whispered. “How does that work?”

Vic chuckled. “I can’t give away every secret, Miss Cavan.”

“Can I come work for you guys?”

“We'll see.” He hefted up the metallic box, fidgeting with some of the buttons and dials on one of its faces.

“Alright, team, listen up,” Vic said, raising his voice to draw their attentions back from the newly formed obstacle course. “This,” he held up the box, “is a bomb.”

Joy raised her eyebrows, again scanning its surface. If it was a bomb, its fuzing was total overkill. But given her current surroundings, she guessed she shouldn't be too shocked.

“It's… like a real bomb?” Benji asked, but Vic’s only reply was a smile. He pressed a button, and the side facing them lit up in a garish, movie-style countdown. Digital red, seconds already ticking away.

“Shit,” Benji muttered.

“I trust you understand your goal then.” Vic pressed another button and the box spun out of his hands, hovering alongside the drones for a moment before disappearing into the maze of concrete that now stood in the center of the room.

“Evade the drones. Disarm the bomb. You have one hour.”

He grinned at the collection of shocked faces surrounding him.

“Try not to die.”

×~×~×

tag list:

@theonewithallthefixations

[usafphantom2]

How F-14 and F-15 pilots trained to take down the legendary Blackbird

Image created by Alex Hollings using U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin graphics.

Despite flying into the sunset nearly a quarter-century ago, Lockheed’s legendary SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance plane was so far ahead of its time that even today, some 59 years since its first flight, there has yet to be a single aircraft to challenge its position atop the podium of fastest crewed jets in history. Throughout its three decades of service, the Blackbird famously had over 4,000 missiles of all sorts fired at it, and managed to outrun every single one.

But no aircraft is invincible and the Blackbird was no exception. With looming concerns about high-speed Soviet fighters closing the capability gap that insulated the SR-71 from intercept, the Air Force decided to pit its Mach 3+ Blackbird against America’s own best fighters, both of which have also become legends in their own right: the U.S. Navy’s Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the U.S. Air Force’s McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.

And while no Soviet fighter or missile ever managed to catch up to the sky-storming Habu (a name pilots gave the Blackbird due to its aesthetic similarities to the pit viper of the same name), the same can’t be said for the simulated AIM-54 Phoenix and AIM-7 Sparrow missiles notionally lobbed its way by America’s top fighter pilots. Like any prizefighter with an undefeated record, the SR-71’s official tally may show only victories, but its unofficial training record is actually littered with defeats at the hands of its slower-moving (but highly capable) American fighter siblings.

But don’t let those simulated defeats fool you… because taking on the Blackbird and winning required a fair bit of meddling that stacked the deck in the fighter’s favor.

Related: How hypersonic drones could defeat missiles the same way the SR-71 did

The truth about air combat exercises (and what we can learn from their outcomes)

As Sandboxx News has covered at great length in the past, training exercises are rarely organized in a way that allows the superior platform to flex its distinct advantages to their fullest extent. Those sorts of exercises do occur in the form of platform and system testing, but the rules of engagement in complex combat training operations usually aim to level the playing field to some extent in order to give all pilots and crews involved some experience working from a tactical deficit.

In other words, commanders intentionally set the rules to give pilots experience fighting or surviving in uncomfortable circumstances, even if their aircraft are so capable that uncomfortable situations are unlikely. F-22 Raptor pilots, for instance, are regularly disallowed from beyond-visual-range engagements during training exercises against other fighters and are sometimes even required to keep their heavy drop tanks underwing when scrapping in close quarters – both conditions set by operational planners in order to nerf (or diminish) the Raptor’s greatest combat advantages.

(FLIR image from an F-16 of an SR-71 flying alongside an F/A-18)

But if you think the F-22 is often forced to fight with one wing tied behind its back, you’ll be downright shocked at the lengths SR-71 pilots would go to just to make themselves a viable target for America’s premier fighters. And when the fastest pilots in the sky got tired of losing and started breaking those training rules, not even the F-15 Eagle – the fastest fighter in American history with an unmatched modern air combat record of 104 wins and zero losses – could touch the legendary Blackbird.

Related: The King is dead: Why would America want to retire the F-22

Pitting the SR-71 against the Air Force’s F-15 Eagle

An F-15 Eagle from the 142nd Fighter Wing takes off from Portland Air National Guard Base in Oregon. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman John Hughel)

The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle program might be described as an American overreaction to alarming assumptions made by the Defense and Intelligence communities about the Soviet MiG-25. When the first images of this high-speed new fighter reached the Pentagon in 1967, its massive turbojet nozzles, vast wing area, and broad, gulping intakes led many to believe it was the most capable fighter ever seen to that point. In response, the U.S. redoubled its development efforts for a new air superiority fighter that might be capable of standing toe-to-toe with what certainly seemed to be a new Soviet juggernaut.

Of course, the MiG-25 was nothing close to the high-performer the United States feared it to be, but by the time American officials found that out in 1976 (when Soviet pilot Victor Belenko defected with one), the monster they built to take it on – by then known officially as the F-15 Eagle – had already entered service eight months prior.

Victor Belenko’s MiG-25 (DoD Image)

However, as dominant as the F-15 would prove to be in air-to-air combat, even it struggled against the Habu’s elusive combination of speed, stealth, and electronic countermeasures.

In the books, The Complete Book of the SR-71 Blackbird: The Illustrated Profile of Every Aircraft, Crew, and Breakthrough of the World’s Fastest Stealth Jet, and, SR-71 Revealed: The Inside Story, former Blackbird driver and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Richard H. Graham discussed his time flying high-speed sorties against the legendary F-15 over the Nellis Air Force Base training range, not far from the clandestine installation many of us know today as Area 51.

The intent of these exercises, which the pilots took to calling Eagle Bait sorties, was to give F-15 pilots valuable practice intercepting high-altitude and fast-moving targets that only the Blackbird could simulate.

“To maximize scare, high-altitude/high-speed intercept practice for the fighters against the SR-71,” Graham wrote. “We stacked the deck in their favor to avoid a multitude of missed intercepts, and consequently, wasted time.”

But as powerful as the F-15 was, it faced all the same challenges as the Soviet MiGs. In fact, in order to give the Eagle a shot at scoring a kill against the Habu using the longest-range air-to-air missile available to it at the time, the AIM-7 Sparrow, the Eagle drivers had to be given special permission to exceed the jet’s safety envelope.

“In order to get high enough to take a reasonable shot at us, F-15 crews were given special permission to do a zoom-climb to 50,000 to 55,000 feet before a simulated AIM-7 launch against the SR-71,” Graham recalled. Flying to these altitudes in an F-15 wasn’t just a question of power, however. It also raised concerns about pilot safety inside the cockpit. “They had permission to be above 50,000 feet for a maximum time of 90 seconds without wearing a pressure suit.”

As they’d soon learn, the Eagle also struggled with approaching the Habu from head-on because its targeting systems weren’t designed to be able to see something closing with them so quickly. As former SR-71 pilot Dave Peters would later recall, the speed gate (a filter set to narrow down radar returns to only legitimate threats) had been set to 1,500 miles per hour.

“We were casually warping along from 1,850 to 2,000. So, for them, we didn’t exist,” Peters said. Yet, even once that issue was sorted out, the F-15s still had a steep hill to climb.

As part of “stacking the deck” in the Eagle’s favor, the SR-71 crews were instructed to fly along a specific flight path at altitudes no higher than 70,000 feet and speeds no greater than Mach 2.8. They even began executing fuel dumps, leaving a massive streak of jet fuel in the sky to help the F-15s find them overhead.

Similar to the F-22’s dogfighting conundrum, these rules rounded off the sharper edges of the Habu’s capability set, giving the Eagle a fighting chance.

When that proved not to be enough, Blackbirds were instructed to fly over a designated point in space (called the intercept point) and even call out their approach to it over open radio frequencies at one-minute intervals starting five minutes out. This approach, however unrealistic, gave the Eagle drivers the window of opportunity they needed, rapidly scoring simulated kill after kill against the SR-71 as it zoomed by.

“After each mission, we would debrief by phone, and the F-15 drivers would report ‘four AIM-7s launched, four kills on the HABU,'” Former SR-71 pilot, Capt. Steve “Griz” Grzebiniak later recalled.

Related: Project Oxcart: Why you had to be married to fly the CIA’s fastest jet

Teaching the air-to-air champ a lesson

(Lockheed Martin)

Even with all of the allowances the Blackbird drivers made for their competition, just shaking one of the notional AIM-7 Sparrows launched by the F-15s was simple. The now-dated AIM-7 carried only a semi-active radar guidance system onboard, meaning it needed target information to be relayed from the launching aircraft all the way until impact.

The SR-71 carried an advanced electronic countermeasures system onboard that, among other things, has been said to be able to discern between radar transmission and even broadcast phantom returns that would force the engaging fighter to re-acquire the real target. Because of the Sparrow’s semi-active homing guidance system, the Blackbird could dismiss an inbound Sparrow with the flip of a switch.

F-15A “Eagle” of the 110th Fighter Squadron, 131st Fighter Wing, Air National Guard, Lambert-St. Louis IAP, Mo., launches an AIM-7 “Sparrow” missile, during a Weapons System Evaluation Program. (U.S. Air Force photo)

But as the F-15s racked up victories, the competitive spirit of the Habu drivers began to take hold… and finally, they decided to break a few rules to inject a bit of humility back into the fighter pilots below.

This time, they didn’t execute a fuel dump at five minutes out like usual… mostly because they were flying 16,000 feet higher (now at 86,000 feet) and much faster than before… now cruising at Mach 3.2. The F-15s never had a chance.

“In the phone debrief after the mission, the F-15 flight lead reported ‘four shots and four kills’ on the first pass and mumbled something about radar problems and no kills on the second pass,” Grzebiniak said. “Even with the world’s best planes, pilots, and missiles, it would take a golden BB [a lucky blind shot by the enemy] to bring down a Habu.”

Related: Sea Eagle: America’s plan to put the F-15 on aircraft carriers

The F-14’s AIM-54 Phoenix Missile may have been the real Top Gun

F-14 flying alongside SR-71 during refueling (Image via Haburats SR-71 on X/Twitter)

The F-15 wasn’t the only top-tier fighter in the U.S. arsenal at the time, and the truth is, the Navy’s famed F-14 Tomcat of Top Gun fame was actually better equipped for these sorts of high-speed intercepts.

While the Eagle’s AN/APG-63 was a highly capable radar, it fell well short of the massive power output and multi-targeting capability of the Tomcat’s AN/AWG-9 radar and fire control system. With around double the detection range of the Eagle’s radar and the ability to track 24 targets simultaneously, the F-14 could guide six separate missiles into six separate targets at the same time. Despite being based on a fairly dated design, there wouldn’t be a more powerful radar installed in a fighter until the F-22 Raptor entered service.

But perhaps even more important was the Tomcat’s armament, because the F-14 came equipped with the now-legendary AIM-54 Phoenix missile – the longest-ranged air-to-air missile on the planet at the time that flew with a combination of a semi-active seeker to take cues from the F-14’s radar and an active radar-homing seeker for terminal guidance. In other words, once the Phoenix was close enough to a target, it could rely on its own onboard radar to close in, rather than needing the launching pilot to maintain a lock until impact.

AIM-54 hits a QF-4 target drone during testing. (U.S. Navy photos)

Training intercepts that pitted the F-14 against the SR-71 were known by insiders as Tomcat Chase sorties, and were usually carried out over the Pacific, rather than the Nevada desert, thanks to the presence of F-14-hauling aircraft carriers at sea. As with the F-15, Habu drivers did their best to give the F-14 a fighting chance, flying along straight, predetermined flight paths at lower altitudes and speeds than they would normally do. They also maintained open radio communications, allowing the SR-71 pilots to guide the F-14s into their relative positions so they’d have a chance to fire their notional AIM-54s.

The Blackbird flew with its transponder on, and again, without its defensive electronic countermeasures engaged. But, again, even in these very favorable conditions, Tomcats struggled to find their mark.

“The 14s could find us but they couldn’t do anything until we modified and gave them times, route of flight, speed, and altitude beforehand so they could have a pre-planned setup,” Pilot Dave Peters recalled. “The 15s didn’t do that well for quite some time.”

A Fighter Squadron 211 (VF-211) F-14A Tomcat aircraft banks into a turn during a flight out of Naval Air Station, Miramar while carrying six AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. (U.S. Navy photo)

Tough as it was to spot the Blackbird zooming past, once the Tomcats did, the Phoenix missile was capable enough to pose some real problems for the Blackbird. With a top speed in excess of Mach 4 (except when put into a ballistic flight path into the ground, where it could exceed Mach 5), the AIM-54 had the speed and the range required to close with an airborne Habu, and thanks to its onboard radar seeker, it would be tougher to shake than the Eagle’s Sparrows.

However, there remains some debate about whether or not even the Phoenix could have found its mark in the Blackbird’s high-altitude domain.

“Another factor in our favor was the small guidance fins on their missiles,” Graham wrote. “They are optimized in size for guiding a missile to its target in the thicker air from the ground up and around forty thousand feet. At eighty thousand feet the air is so thin that full deflection of the missile’s guidance fins can barely turn it.”

Related: The best fighters America *almost* put on aircraft carriers

Tomcats, Eagles, and Habus… Oh my!

This picture of an SR-71 flying alongside F-4s and F-14s was too cool not to include, so just pretend those F-4s are F-15s! (DoD image)

At the end of the day, the Tomcat Chase and Eagle Bait sorties flown throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s were about far more than the pilots’ pride. These exercises were about identifying technical limits (like the Eagle’s speed gate), assessing aircraft capabilities in circumstances outside the norm, and helping pilots gain the experience they need to exercise complex problem-solving in the heat of a high-stakes situation.

These exercises, like a great deal of military training, weren’t about finding winners and losers, they were about making everyone involved, from the ground crews, to command and control, to the pilots better at some of the most difficult, arduous, and complex jobs in warfare.

But that doesn’t mean fighter pilots didn’t take their chance to down a Habu seriously… and as you might expect, they took losing just as seriously.

“There was some animosity at first with both the Eagles and the Tomcats because they kept accusing us of not showing up,” Peters recalled about the times the fighters couldn’t find his fast-moving Blackbird. Listening in on the open radio lines, Peters couldn’t help but enjoy their frustration a bit. “They got a little huffy because nobody told them we weren’t coming.”

[ccubetechnologies]

[gtiaindia]

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[ukrainenews]

The wall of a major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war rushed to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction.

Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River in an area that Moscow controls, while Russian officials blamed Ukrainian bombardment in the contested area. It was not possible to verify the claims.

The potentially far-reaching environmental and social consequences of the disaster quickly became clear as homes, streets and businesses flooded downstream and emergency crews began evacuations; officials raced to check cooling systems at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; and authorities expressed concern about supplies of drinking water to the south in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities brought in trains and buses for residents. About 22,000 people live in areas at risk of flooding in Russian-controlled areas, while 16,000 live in the most critical zone in Ukrainian-held territory, according to official tallies. Neither side reported any deaths or injuries.

The dam break added a stunning new dimension to Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its 16th month. Ukrainian forces were widely seen to be moving forward with a long-anticipated counteroffensive in patches along more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of front line in the east and south.

It was not immediately clear whether either side benefits from the damage to the dam, since both Russian-controlled and Ukrainian-held lands are at risk. The damage could also hinder Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the south and distract its government, while Russia depends on the dam to supply water to Crimea.

Patricia Lewis, director of the International Security Program at Chatham House think tank in London, said apportioning blame is difficult but “there are all sorts of reasons why Russia would do this.”

“There were reports (last fall) of Russians having mined the reservoir. The question we should pose is why the Ukrainians would do this to themselves, given this is Ukrainian territory,” she said.

Experts have previously said the dam was suffering from disrepair. David Helms, a retired American scientist who has monitored the reservoir since the start of the war, said in an e-mail that it wasn’t clear if the damage was deliberate or simple neglect from Russian forces occupying the facility.

But Helms reserved judgement, also noting a Russian history of attacking dams.

Authorities, experts and residents have expressed concern for months about water flows through — and over — the Kakhovka dam. After heavy rains and snow melt last month, water levels rose beyond normal levels, flooding nearby villages. Satellite images showed water washing over damaged sluice gates.

Amid official outrage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council. He alleged Russian forces set off a blast inside the dam structure at 2:50 a.m. (2350 GMT Monday) and said about 80 settlements were in danger. Zelenskyy said in October his government had information that Russia had mined the dam and power plant.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it “a deliberate act of sabotage by the Ukrainian side … aimed at cutting water supplies to Crimea.”

Both sides warned of a looming environmental disaster. Ukraine’s Presidential Office said some 150 metric tons of oil escaped from the dam machinery and that another 300 metric tons could still leak out.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s President’s Office, posted a video showing swans swimming near an administrative building in the flooded streets of Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka, a city in the Kherson region where some 45,000 people lived before the war. Other footage he posted showed flood waters reaching the second floor of the building.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry urged residents of 10 villages on the Dnieper’s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson downriver to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances, and leave, while cautioning against possible disinformation.

The Russian-installed mayor of occupied Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said it was being evacuated as water poured into the city.

Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said in a Telegram statement that the damage to the dam “could have negative consequences” for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is Europe’s biggest, but wrote that for now the situation is “controllable.”

The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement there was “no immediate risk to the safety of the plant,” which requires water for its cooling system.

It said that IAEA staff on site have been told the dam level is falling by 5 centimeters (2 inches) an hour. At that rate, the supply from the reservoir should last a few days, it said.

The plant also has alternative sources of water, including a large cooling pond than can provide water “for some months,” the statement said.

Ukrainian authorities have previously warned that the dam’s failure could unleash 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other areas where thousands of people live.

The World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development, a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, estimated that nearly 100 villages and towns would be flooded. It also reckoned that the water level would start dropping only after five-seven days.

A total collapse in the dam would wash away much of the broad river’s left bank, according to the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Working Group, an organization of environmental activists and experts documenting the war’s environmental effects.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that “a global ecological disaster is playing out now, online, and thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours.”

Video posted online showed floodwaters inundating a long roadway; another showed a beaver scurrying for high ground from rising waters.

The incident also drew international condemnation, including from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said the “outrageous act … demonstrates once again the brutality of Russia’s war in Ukraine.”

Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnieper, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the country’s drinking water and power supply.

Ukraine’s state hydro power generating company wrote in a statement that “The station cannot be restored.” Ukrhydroenergo also claimed Russia blew up the station from inside the engine room.

Leontyev, the Russian-appointed mayor, said numerous Ukrainian strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant destroyed its valves, and “water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably flow downstream.” Leontyev added that damage to the station was beyond repair, and it would have to be rebuilt.

Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of targeting the dam with attacks.

[mariacallous]

Last week, Doctors Without Borders announced that it had to close its operations in Russia after the Justice Ministry removed its affiliate office from the country’s foreign NGO register. Also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), this international non-governmental organization was among the first humanitarian missions to start working in Russia after the Soviet Union’s collapse. For more than three decades, MSF implemented dozens of important programs, helping vulnerable people across Russia through difficult situations. Since 2022, Doctors Without Borders has also offered humanitarian aid to civilians affected by the Russo-Ukrainian War. The Russian Justice Ministry didn’t offer an explanation for the decision, which made it impossible for MSF to continue working in the country. To mark the departure of Doctors Without Borders from Russia, Meduza looks back on their 32 years of work. 

From Moscow to Chechnya

Founded in Paris by a group of doctors and journalists in 1971, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, in English) now operates in 70 countries, providing medical assistance to people in emergency situations and those excluded from health care. The organization relies on donations from companies, private foundations, and individual donors. In 2023, MSF raised 2.37 billion euros ($2.64 billion) to support its work, most of which came from some 7.3 million private donors. 

Doctors Without Borders began working in Russia in 1992, distributing free food to children under three years old at “milk kitchens” in Moscow. Later that year, MSF began assisting the Russian capital’s homeless population, which numbered around 30,000 people — all of whom lacked access to medical and social services. 

In an interview with Moskvich Mag, Dr. Alexey Nikiforov, who later became the deputy medical coordinator of the MSF mission in Russia and Belarus, recalled the organization’s work in Moscow in those early days: 

We agreed to supply some hospitals with, say, dressings and to buy additional medications, and in return they would admit the homeless persons we would send to them from our first-aid post. In the morning, we [treated] patients with urgent problems at the first-aid post, and if some homeless person needed hospitalization, then we’d make arrangements with a hospital. And in the afternoon we’d transport patients to the hospitals in our minibus.

MSF doctors also used their minibus to make regular visits to train stations and other places in Moscow where homeless people sheltered, to provide them with emergency medical consultations. The organization also worked closely with city officials to improve municipal services for the homeless population, such as shelters. 

In addition, MSF worked to raise awareness about the problems unhoused people faced, running an ad campaign in the Moscow subway system and parking a bus outside the mayor’s office emblazoned with a running tally of the deaths from hypothermia on the city’s streets. As Nikiforov recalled:

[W]ith the help of our advertiser friends, we made a poster with a stylized snowman lying in a snowdrift; on the poster there were cutouts and you could change the numbers to how many people had frozen to death in Moscow since the start of the winter and overnight. We attached the poster [to the bus] and updated the data in the windows every day.

Battling tuberculosis

In 1995, Doctors Without Borders began tackling the spread of tuberculosis in Russian prisons. The initiative began at the Mariinsky penal colony in the Kemerovo region, after the prison hospital’s chief physician, Natalya Vezhnina, “paid her way to some international conference in Europe, where she announced that she was tired of burying her prisoners — they die every day,” Alexey Nikiforov told Moskvich magazine. 

With permission from the Federal Penitentiary Service, MSF aid workers were allowed to visit the Mariinsky prison hospital, and thus began their treatment program for drug-sensitive tuberculosis in the Russian penitentiary system. “The necessary first-line drugs cost pennies now, but back then there were problems with medical supplies,” Nikiforov recalled. 

In addition to distributing medicine, MSF organized a system for screening new prisoners, established diagnostic procedures, and managed to provide uninterrupted, months-long treatment for prisoners with TB. Its work soon extended to other prison facilities in the Kemerovo region, as well as to tuberculosis hospitals, where medical staff were taught how to administer more effective treatment, thereby preventing the spread of TB. 

In 2004, Doctors Without Borders launched a tuberculosis treatment program in Chechnya. As Nikiforov said in interviews, the two wars in Chechnya had destroyed nearly all of the infrastructure needed to treat tuberculosis patients, leaving the entire region without a dedicated TB hospital and with just 12 tuberculosis specialists. In particular, MSF’s work consisted of distributing medications that weren’t available in the region at all. According to Nikiforov, the organization ultimately treated more than 5,500 tuberculosis patients in Chechnya. 

MSF wound down its projects in Chechnya in 2017, handing over tuberculosis treatment to the Chechen Health Ministry. But the organization continued to launch shorter tuberculosis treatment programs in other parts of Russia, including in the Arkhangelsk and Ivanovo regions, most recently. 

Russia’s wars

In 1999, Doctors Without Borders won the Nobel Peace Prize, “in recognition of the organization's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents.” In his Nobel speech, then-president of the MSF International Council, Dr. James Orbinsk, made an appeal to President Boris Yeltsin condemning Russia’s violence against civilians in Chechnya: 

The people of Chechnya — and the people of Grozny — today and for more than three months, are enduring indiscriminate bombing by the Russian army. For them humanitarian assistance is virtually unknown. It is the sick, the old and the infirm who cannot escape Grozny. [...] I appeal here today to his excellency the Ambassador of Russia and through him, to President Yeltsin, to stop the bombing of defenseless civilians in Chechnya. If conflicts and wars are an affair of the state, violations of humanitarian law, war crimes, and crimes against humanity apply to all of us.

[...]

Silence has long been confused with neutrality, and has been presented as a necessary condition for humanitarian action. From its beginning, MSF was created in opposition to this assumption. We are not sure that words can always save lives, but we know that silence can certainly kill.

Doctors Without Borders worked on the ground in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan, performing consultations for residents and displaced persons, supplying hospitals and clinics with essential medicines, and providing psychological and medical assistance. 

In 2001, armed individuals kidnapped the head of the Doctors Without Borders North Caucasus mission, U.S. citizen Kenneth Gluck, holding him hostage for a month. Armed men then abducted the MSF head of mission for Dagestan, Dutch national Arjan Erkel, in 2002. The organization suspended its operations in the Russian North Caucasus following Erkel’s kidnapping. He was finally released in 2004. 

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Doctors Without Borders began providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees in Russia, as well as to displaced Russians (in addition to its extensive operations in Ukraine). “Since the start of our response in 2022, more than 52,000 refugees and displaced people were provided with humanitarian aid and more than 15,400 received free medical, mental health, and psychosocial support,” the organization said in a September press release. 

Since October 2022, Doctors Without Borders had worked in Russia’s Belgorod region alongside the non-profit organization Path to the Future (Put’ v budushchee, in Russian). MSF also planned to provide humanitarian assistance in the Kursk region, but was ultimately forced to shutter its operations.

In the press release announcing the closure of its programs, MSF said it “would like to work in Russia again should the necessary conditions be provided by authorities.” 

“We are very sad to conclude our programmes in the country as many people in need of medical and humanitarian assistance will now be left without the support we could have provided to them,” said Norman Sitali, the MSF operations manager responsible for programs in Russia. “MSF would like to still work in Russia again, if and when possible.”

[hacktuarial]

My favorite bit of extra / cut canon material is Ram being a Game Grid trainer. It’s such a perfectly demoralizing role to assign him — it plays to his need to be useful to and supportive of others but also sets him up for devastation when his efforts are ultimately meaningless. He’s just such a relentless optimist that he wants to believe he can make a difference, that he can provide better than the “standard substandard training” Sark threatens everyone with because he’s survived long enough to build impressive skills himself. But by design few programs make it more than a round or two of the games at most, and it’s not his fault or failing but Users does it feel like it is. Which is exactly what Sark and the MCP want — Ram is too good at the Games so he has to be broken some other way. He remembers the names and functions of every program he trained, and there are a few carved into the walls of his cell alongside the rows of tally marks.

Tron getting captured ends up being a major morale booster for Ram. He’s technically assigned to train him too, but Tron is already well equipped to handle whatever thr Ganes throw at him. So here’s someone Ram doesn’t have to feel personally responsible for — even though he still does to an extent — and can actually build a relationship with without worrying about survival chances as much as usual. For the first time he has faith in someone other than the Users.