Ukraine

[pnwguy]

A pretty good summary of The Deal he would forge:

"Ukraine, surrender to Russia, or I'll nuke Kyiv myself"

slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/06/trump-ukraine-russia-war-diplomacy-deal.html

[LFC]

We expected Ukraine to have to MacGyver up equipment but the "second most powerful army in the world?" Yes, this is an actual piece of Russian equipment in service in Ukraine. I love the reaction video.

[andydp]

Jul 3, 2023 22:41:01 GMT LFC said:

We expected Ukraine to have to MacGyver up equipment but the "second most powerful army in the world?" Yes, this is an actual piece of Russian equipment in service in Ukraine. I love the reaction video.

Something is wrong with the link.

[AnBr]

Works for me.

[Bact PhD]

Worked for me when I clicked on it yesterday as well as just now. I don’t have Twitter, either — I know they’ve done something to limit access to non-Twitter users, but this doesn’t appear to be affected…so far.

[LFC]

Jul 4, 2023 11:54:45 GMT andydp said:

Something is wrong with the link.

It works for me but I have a Twitter account, not that I post anything with it.

[jackd]

Works for me too and I don't have a twitter account.

[indy]

Jul 5, 2023 0:02:43 GMT jackd said:

Works for me too and I don't have a twitter account.

ditto.

[LFC]

I've been following these videos from Reporting From Ukraine for quite some time. Now Euromaidan Press has teamed up to release the transcripts as well. The information and explanations he gives are excellent, and the videos will often be well supplied with maps, arrows, and boundaries to help explain what it going on.

This latest video is basically about how the Ukrainian counteroffensive hasn't even really started yet. They are setting up for better tactical positions, probing for weak spots, and using their artillery, drones, and HIMARS to hammer Russian logistics and troops. They're basically in no rush to storm the trenches while they're still effectively grinding the Russians into the dirt while minimizing their own losses. They're smart, compared to some of the moronic pundits who are expounding that the counteroffensive is failing because it's not on the timetable they ignorantly predicted. Looking at track records, I trust the Ukrainian military much more than these snapperheads.

Editor’s Note
Ukrainian forces conduct an extensive HIMARS raid on the eastern front, targeting Russian logistical hubs and artillery systems, aiming to undermine Russian defenses and facilitate a breakthrough.

Day 496: 4 July

Today the biggest news comes from the east.

Several hours ago, Ukrainians conducted an extensive HIMARS raid along the whole eastern contact line.

The first target became the biggest Russian logistical hub on the occupied territories – Donetsk. Donetsk is one of the largest cities in Ukraine by size, and it is by far the most industrialized one, which means that it has very well-developed logistics that Russians gladly use to accumulate and store ammunition and equipment. The footage was quickly geolocated, and it turned out that the target was quite obvious – Ukrainians struck a warehouse of the factory Sarmat, which is located just 100 meters away from the railway connection. Russian sources reported that Ukrainians used 2 HIMARS rockets to hit the facilitates. Some sources reported that Ukrainians managed to destroy the newly arrived equipment.

The second target became the twin city of Donetsk – Makiivka. Geolocated footage indicates that a powerful explosion happened on the territory of the metallurgical plant. The plant itself is extremely vast, so Russians used it to accumulate tons of ammunition. Russian sources reported that Ukrainian launched 2 HIMARS missiles here as well, and even claimed that one of the missiles was shot down, however, it did not change anything. The explosion was so powerful that the smoke covered several cities. Ukrainian military-affiliated sources confirmed that Ukrainians successfully hit a Russian ammunition depot that had just received huge supplies.

These strikes aimed to reduce the available and ready-to-use Russian resources on the eastern front to undermine Russian defensive capabilities, particularly around Bakhmut. The creation of short-term deficits of ammunition and shells can create a perfect window of opportunity for advancement because, as you remember, Ukrainians have just 1 fortification left to overcome before they can expand south of Bakhmut.

Some analysts claimed that the ammunition depots that Ukrainians targeted today with their HIMARS predominantly contained artillery shells. And it looks like it is true because simultaneously, Ukrainians started using HIMARS for effective counterbattery fire very frequently.

Euromaidan has video of the ammo depot going up. Shit gets real just after the 0:40 mark.

[LFC]

If you want to get a glimpse at the new world of warfare, take a look at how important drones are now. Both sides know it but I have a lot more faith in Ukraine to churn them out.

Summary

• Ukraine and Russia are in wartime technology arms race
  
• Kyiv aims to innovate way to down Russian drones cheaply
  
• Ukrainian drone output booming despite Russian attacks
• State programme hopes to procure 200,000 drones in 2023

This is an example of what a simple drone can do with a rejiggered round of anti-armor ammunition meant to be fired from an actual gun. Both sides have been using these, making armor less safe than it used to be.

[andydp]

Jul 5, 2023 22:31:53 GMT LFC said:

If you want to get a glimpse at the new world of warfare, take a look at how important drones are now. Both sides know it but I have a lot more faith in Ukraine to churn them out.

Summary

• Ukraine and Russia are in wartime technology arms race
  
• Kyiv aims to innovate way to down Russian drones cheaply
  
• Ukrainian drone output booming despite Russian attacks
• State programme hopes to procure 200,000 drones in 2023

This is an example of what a simple drone can do with a rejiggered round of anti-armor ammunition meant to be fired from an actual gun. Both sides have been using these, making armor less safe than it used to be.

New weapons will have a "learning curve" until a counter is developed.  Like the airplane, first use of drones was reconnaissance.  It didn't take long for planes to get machine guns, then bombs.

From an technical standpoint, the top of a tank has always been the most vulnerable part.  In the 80's the US had developed an artillery round that could be fired over an armored formation, the round would individually target a vehicle and maneuver to hit it.

I definitely agree the UKR will win the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) race.

[indy]

Russia has a long history of simply feeding people into the mouth of a war until it 'wins' by exhausting the resources of the opponent. The cheap and easy production of technologically advanced weapons has rendered that strategy impotent. Add the fact that every poorly trained and technologically illiterate Russian soldier armed with a cell phone can give up important strategic information with a butt dial and the result is clear. There was a good chance they could have won at the outset but Putin's strategy of killing every competent person in his orbit made that difficult.

[LFC]

Reports on the front. Ukraine continues to grind down Russian logistics and supplies. They also made a major breakthrough to the south of Bakhmut by taking the single best defenses in front of Klishchiivka. This is a trench network in the heights while Klishchiivka is in the lowlands, making it very difficult to defend. It's been noted that the Russian troops are kind of in a surrender or die position since retreat routes have been mined and the Chechens are in place to gun down any troops attempting to retreat. I don't imagine the Chechens are much loved to begin with. At some point this type of thing is going to turn into a battle as Russians decide they'd rather face the Chechens than the Ukrainians.

[pnwguy]

Jul 6, 2023 18:44:05 GMT LFC said:

Reports on the front. Ukraine continues to grind down Russian logistics and supplies. They also made a major breakthrough to the south of Bakhmut by taking the single best defenses in front of Klishchiivka. This is a trench network in the heights while Klishchiivka is in the lowlands, making it very difficult to defend. It's been noted that the Russian troops are kind of in a surrender or die position since retreat routes have been mined and the Chechens are in place to gun down any troops attempting to retreat. I don't imagine the Chechens are much loved to begin with. At some point this type of thing is going to turn into a battle as Russians decide they'd rather face the Chechens than the Ukrainians.

No regard for the human lives of his citizens, except his own.  No wonder Dumpster loves Putin so much!

[indy]

It seems that Ukraine may have more tanks currently than Russia.

[LFC]

I never had a very high opinion of Cornell West. He always felt like he was overbearing, over bashing of the U.S., and not as smart or clever as he clearly thinks he is. After reading this my opinion of him has dropped even further. Keith summed up my feelings quite well.

[indy]

Overnight attack on the Kerch Bridge is being reported. The preliminary report is that it was carried out by a sea drone attack. It may or may not have resulted in the collapse of a pillar as reports vary. Russia is telling people to use the 'land bridge' for travel to and from Crimea. What Russian wouldn't want to travel to their vacation through a war torn landscape where the roads are partially under the control of Ukrainian artillery?

[LFC]

Putin pulled out of the grain deal and has been attacking grain shipments and shipping facilities in Odessa with drone and missile attacks for multiple days. He will gladly starve out 50 million people in Africa just to punish Ukraine for the audacity of fighting back when he tried to take their country.

RT, the Russian state mouthpiece, isn't even trying to hide that mass starvation for political gain is their goal.

[LFC]

Join us! The waters in Ukraine are fine!

(Hmmm. Tweet might not be showing for some reason. The text is, "The massively armed Free Russian Legion asks Wagner to join them marching on Moscow.")

[AnBr]

How about just a link?

[LFC]

Aug 26, 2023 12:33:59 GMT AnBr said:

How about just a link?

Link

[Bact PhD]

Aug 26, 2023 18:19:14 GMT LFC said:

Aug 26, 2023 12:33:59 GMT AnBr said:

How about just a link?

Link

Hm! I clicked the link just now and got “this page doesn’t exist.”

[LFC]

Aug 26, 2023 18:21:58 GMT Bact PhD said:

Aug 26, 2023 18:19:14 GMT LFC said:

Link

Hm! I clicked the link just now and got “this page doesn’t exist.”

And yet it still works for me. I clicked the link in my post and here's a screen snap of what jumps up. The Musky Man continues to make Twitter / X a superior platform.

[LFC]

This is over 9,000 words but if you want a detail synopsis on the current state of the war and a lot of the events that brought it here, this article is excellent.

[jackd]

It looks as though the critical issue for the Ukrainian counter offensive is the reliability or lack of it of its resupply by NATO and growing impatience within NATO. Failure to have provided F16's previously appears to be a direct cause of the methodical approach necessarily adopted by Ukraine. It's hard to justify the reported criticism of Ukraine's combined forces maneuvering when the air cover element has not been available.