Ukraine 3

[240B]

[Hoodat]

Ukraine says southern counter-offensive complicated by wet weather, terrain

Max Hunder  |  October 26, 2022  |  10:21 AM EDT

KYIV, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Ukraine's counter-offensive against Russian forces in the southern Kherson region is proving more difficult than it was in the northeast because of wet weather and the terrain, Ukraine's defence minister said on Wednesday.

Kyiv's forces are piling pressure on Russian troops in the strategically important Kherson region occupied by Moscow since the start of its Feb. 24 invasion, threatening President Vladimir Putin with another big battlefield setback.

"First of all, the south of Ukraine is an agricultural region, and we have a lot of irrigation and water supply channels, and the Russians use them like trenches," Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told a news conference. "It's more convenient for them."

"The second reason is weather conditions. This is the rainy season, and it's very difficult to use fighting carrier vehicles with wheels," he said, adding that this reduced the options for Ukraine's armed forces.  .  .  .

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-southern-counter-offensive-complicated-by-wet-weather-terrain-2022-10-26/

[240B]

The old saying, 'If you are cold, then they are cold.' would apply.
If Ukraine is bogged down, so are the Russians.
The war moves to long range weapons and air power.

[Kamaji]

Putin's war within Russia: The brave activists risking their lives and freedom to bring an end to Ukrainian invasion with guerrilla protest tactics

By CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE
27 October 2022

The names and faces of brave Russians defying Vladimir Putin's crackdown to oppose the Ukraine war from within have been revealed in a new documentary.

Activists risking their lives to protest include Sasha, who is facing up to 10 years in jail for placing fake price tags containing anti-war slogans on supermarket shelves.

Another, Natalia, has been using a SIM card she bought while studying in the UK to broadcast anti-war messages on TikTok, while journalists and mothers Olga and Elena have been trying to document the true death toll.

Their exploits were captured by a documentary-maker who gave his name only as Vasiliy, who is also Russian, who said he wanted to show that not all of his countrymen support Putin's war.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11360627/Brave-activists-fighting-against-Putins-war-Ukraine-Russia.html

[Kamaji]

Biden administration tears into Russia for using photos of Slovenian smoke detectors to suggest they have 'proof' Ukraine can make a dirty bomb

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
27 October 2022

A White House official is calling out Russia for 'ridiculous' disinformation after it pushed out an image purporting to show the threat of a Ukrainian 'dirty bomb' that was actually an old picture of Slovenian fire extinguishers.

The U.S. and allies, as well as the Ukrainians, are closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine after Russia has raised repeatedly warnings that the Ukrainians would set off a 'dirty bomb' in their own country.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby has warned it has echoes of the kind of 'false flag' operations Russia is known for – where the Kremlin puts out information about the specter of a threat to justify its own plans.

In this case, Russia's ministry of foreign affairs released stock images of nuclear reactors and storage facilities to bolster its claims about the supposed Ukrainian dirty bomb threat.

'Russia shared an image of dirty bomb material as “proof” of its false claims. Only -wait for it- the photo, taken in 2010, is apparently of a pile of Slovenian smoke detectors,' National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson tweeted Thursday.

'Russian disinfo: ridiculous, unsurprising… made with horrifying intent & devastating repercussions.'

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11361893/White-House-tears-Russia-using-photos-Slovenian-smoke-detectors-dirty-bomb-proof.html

[Elderberry]

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 27

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-27

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to reject the idea of Ukrainian sovereignty in a way that is fundamentally incompatible with serious negotiations. Putin continued to reject Ukrainian sovereignty during a speech at the Valdai Discussion Club on October 27. Putin stated that the “single real guarantee of Ukrainian sovereignty” can only be Russia, which “created” Ukraine.[1] Putin reiterated that it is a “historical fact” that Ukrainians and Russians are fundamentally “one people” that were wrongly separated into “different states.”[2] Putin stated on October 26 that Ukraine has “lost its sovereignty” and become a NATO vassal.[3]

Putin’s statements reject the legal fact that Ukraine is a fully sovereign state, that the Russian Federation recognized Ukraine’s sovereignty, and that the Ukrainian people exist as a distinct nation. Putin’s perpetuation of the narrative that Ukraine and Russia are a single people separated into different states by arbitrary historical circumstance indicates his continued objective to destroy the Ukrainian state and erase the notion of a Ukrainian people. He added during the question-and-answer period that “if some part of that single ethnicity at some moment decided that it had reached such a level as to consider itself a separate people, then one could only respond with respect.”[4]  The many conditionals in this comment underscore Putin’s rejection of the idea that there is currently any independent Ukrainian national identity. These statements, along with many Russian actions, must cause serious reflection on the question of whether Russia’s war against Ukraine is a genocidal action since genocide is legally defined as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”[5]

A senior Russian official threatened that Russia could target Western commercial satellites supporting Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Konstantin Vorontsov told the United Nations that the United States and its allies were trying to use space to enforce Western dominance and that "quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike."[6] Reuters reported that US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby stated that the United States will meet any attack on US infrastructure “with a response.”[7]

Key Takeaways         
       
•   Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to reject Ukrainian sovereignty in a way that is fundamentally incompatible with serious negotiations.

•   A senior Russian official threatened that Russia could target Western commercial satellites supporting Ukraine.

•   Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast and along the Kreminna-Lysychansk line.

•   Russian forces are continuing to make defensive preparations along the east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

•   Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces conducted limited ground assaults in Kherson Oblast.

•   Russian forces continued to conduct ground attacks in Donetsk Oblast.

•   The Russian military sent mobilization notices to foreign citizens working in Russia.

•   Yevgeny Prigozhin‘s Wagner Group may be further developing its air warfare capabilities and fielding more complex equipment on par with the conventional Russian military.

•   Russian and occupation administration officials began seizing residents’ cell phones in Russian-occupied territories to support law enforcement and operational security measures.

More at link.

[DB]

As been stated numerous times, a "border" war was lie from the git-go.

De-nazification was also a lie from the git-go.

It was all lies to justify Putin consuming Ukraine.

[bilo]

As been stated numerous times, a "border" war was lie from the git-go.

De-nazification was also a lie from the git-go.

It was all lies to justify Putin consuming Ukraine.

Unlike the Afghani's the Ukrainians are more than willing to fight for their freedom.

The next crisis is going to be China. They are returning to their Marxist-Maoist roots. The Chinese economy is crumbling and they are already having a hard time feeding their people.

Our problem is Brandon is not up to the task at hand everything he has gotten involved in has been a disaster.

[Hoodat]

Russian Army Docs Expose It's Miserable State!





This confirms what many already know about the Russian military.  There is no mid-level command structure.  The generals at the top set the orders for everyone.

[Kamaji]

Putin's invasion goes into reverse: 'Severely undermanned and poorly trained' Russian units are forced on to the defensive across the front-line in Ukraine

By CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE
28 October 2022

Russia has largely given up attacking Ukraine and has been forced on to the defensive after Putin's military got mauled by Kyiv's armies.

Severely undermanned and poorly trained Russian units have stopped advancing across most of the front line in the last six weeks, British intelligence said today.

In Kherson, companies of soldiers which should consist of 100 men were fighting with just six to eight troops each, Ministry of Defence analysts added.

While Putin is attempting to bolster these units with conscripted troops, Russia is unlikely to be able to resume its offensive in the near future.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are advancing in both the north and south of the country - pushing east from Kharkiv into Luhansk and advancing towards Kherson.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11365681/Putins-invasion-goes-reverse-Russia-forced-defensive.html

[sneakypete]

Anybody that doesn't think that Putin and Stalinism doesn't still have a firm hold on Moscow needs to read and ponder this for a few moments.

In ANY free country anywhere in the world a leader that put his military and his nation in a predicament like this would have been removed from office months ago.

[Hoodat]

Barracks hit in Svatove, killing 60 and wounding over 100.  Also, corruption exists on the Russian side, too.  Money was provided to rebuild housing, but all those funds disappeared:

https://t.me/luhanskaVTSA/6523

Translation:
In the Svativ region, a barracks with the occupiers was destroyed, in the so-called "LPR" they once again noted the inexpediency of rebuilding Popasna, the state of consideration of applications for compensation for destroyed housing was recognized by the occupiers as unsatisfactory

None of the occupiers is able to take responsibility for the decision regarding Popasna. First, a decree was issued on the inexpediency of its restoration, then at a higher level, that is, in Russia, it was refuted, and now local residents are again being prepared for the preliminary development of affairs. They are looking for funds for the construction of housing in Pervomaisk and Zolote. Options are being considered with Lysychansk and Severodonetsk.

Although in the last two cities, as in Rubizhne with Kreminna, they could not even promptly consider applications for compensation for destroyed housing. Either the money arrived, and then suddenly disappeared, or disappeared before it was received, but the facts of mass non-payments have already reached the so-called leadership of the "republic". The perpetrators are being sought, the missing funds are not.

[Hoodat]

Barracks housing Russian occupiers destroyed in Svatove district in Luhansk Oblast

OLENA ROSHCHINA – THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2022, 09:33

A barracks has been destroyed and about 60 Russian occupiers have been killed in the Svatove district in Luhansk Oblast, Serhii Haidai, Head of Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, has reported.  .  .  .

.  .  .  Details: Haidai states that the number of killed occupiers is growing.

On 26 October, Ukrainian aircraft carried out five strikes. It has been confirmed that clusters of manpower, weapons and military equipment of the Russians, three strong points and an anti-aircraft missile system were hit.

In total, air defence units shot down a Russian Ka-52 helicopter, a Kh-59 missile and 17 attack UAVs.

Over the past day, Ukraine’s Rocket Forces and Artillery hit four command posts, eight clusters of manpower, weapons and military equipment, three ammunition storage sites and six other important sites used by the Russian invaders.

Another attack by the Russians was repelled in the area of Bilohorivka.  .  .

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/10/27/7373704/

[Smokin Joe]

Unlike the Afghani's the Ukrainians are more than willing to fight for their freedom.

The next crisis is going to be China. They are returning to their Marxist-Maoist roots. The Chinese economy is crumbling and they are already having a hard time feeding their people.

Our problem is Brandon is not up to the task at hand everything he has gotten involved in has been a disaster.

The Afghans got the government they wanted: a Muslim semi-theocracy.
That we failed to 'build' our version of what we thought would be a better government for Afghans (and, admittedly, many Afghans agreed), the winners in that, aside from arms dealers, got their way.
Those decisions have ultimately, been internal there, and in a sense, they were free to fight for western style freedom in defiance of a host of cultural norms, or revert to the government they had. The apparent choice was for the latter, under duress or not.

[bilo]

The Afghans got the government they wanted: a Muslim semi-theocracy.
That we failed to 'build' our version of what we thought would be a better government for Afghans (and, admittedly, many Afghans agreed), the winners in that, aside from arms dealers, got their way.
Those decisions have ultimately, been internal there, and in a sense, they were free to fight for western style freedom in defiance of a host of cultural norms, or revert to the government they had. The apparent choice was for the latter, under duress or not.

I agree with your points.

Nonetheless, I will always be struck by watching the military age Afghani's running down the runways looking to flee rather than picking up arms to fight. As opposed to seeing the multi millionaire Klitscko brothers picking up weapons to fight the Orcs.

[Smokin Joe]

I agree with your points.

Nonetheless, I will always be struck by watching the military age Afghani's running down the runways looking to flee rather than picking up arms to fight. As opposed to seeing the multi millionaire Klitscko brothers picking up weapons to fight the Orcs.

Well, it was apparent that without the awesome firepower and know-how of the Coalition (esp. US) forces, they were going to be overrun, especially when the high ranking people were fleeing with their pockets full.

That's a big contrast with "I don't need a ride, I need more ammo." 

Some people/cultures are better at inspiring a population to fight, for one thing, and the memory of the Holodomor stands in stark contrast to the history of a nation that has never been conquered from without by foreigners.

[Hoodat]

'There is only us and them - enemies' - Ukrainians dug in trenches on Belarus and Russia frontline

Adam Parsons  |  28 October 2022  |  19:32, UK

They tell us to run, and so we run. Through the scrub, the mud and the undergrowth until we stop under the shelter of trees. Out of breath, out of sight and, for now, out of danger.

This is a place of mud, weapons and nervous energy. We are in the area where the borders of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia converge. What was once a novelty on a map is now a tangible military pinch point and Russia's next assault on Ukraine might well come through this terrain.

We are with the Ukrainian Border Force, who monitor and guard the frontier. A year ago, these people worried about customs checks on the hundreds of lorries that came through every day, en route between Turkey and Russia. It was, says a smiling, broad-shouldered man guard called Barack, "good work - interesting, not too hard".

Now, there are no lorries and the guards have become the first line of defence. If Russian troops do pour through this border once more - and there is a growing feeling that they will - then these men and women will be the ones to greet them; to try to repel the Russian army. And so, the border guards have adapted to a new and vastly more perilous world.

"I don't want to do this," one of them says to me. "But I do it because I love my land and my country. If I need to fight, I will do this without thinking. It's just work."  .  .  .

.  .  .
'We need more weapons'

They have a variety of weaponry - heavy machine guns, anti-tank missiles, rifles, ammunition and so on. There are minefields around us and a variety of concealed look-out posts. The job of preparing to resist a huge invading army is an intimidating one. It's not one that they're really trained for, but it's one they've embraced.

The trouble is that while the spirit is boundless, the resources are not.

"We need more weapons because we don't know the intensity of the possible attack. We do not know how long we will need to maintain the defence on the border," says Halyna, the spokesperson for the Chernihiv border guard unit.

"We are reacting to the raising of the risk by the invasion with more preparation, more fortification - we want to stop them at the border.

"We need heavy weapons. If they send infantry, you can use assault rifles and machine guns and it will all be contained. The problem begins when tanks and their armoured personnel carriers come from their side."

What, I ask, were the lessons they learned from the February attack?

"That they are unpredictable. This is the first lesson. And they are not our friends."

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-there-is-only-us-and-them-enemies-ukrainians-dug-in-trenches-on-belarus-and-russia-frontline-12732416

[Hoodat]

Russian Losses Fueled by New Units Untrained in 'Basic' Weaponry: Ukraine

ZOE STROZEWSKI  |  10/27/22  |  4:06 PM EDT

ussian forces in Ukraine are seeing "significant" manpower losses because of their lack of training with "basic" types of weapons, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Thursday.

In an operational update on Facebook, the General Staff detailed what it said were some of the issues facing Russia's troops in the Ukraine war. These included a lack of material and technical support for Russian units taking part in "hostilities" on Ukrainian territory. In the southern Kherson region, for example, there have been increases in theft and looting by Russian soldiers who don't have access to warm clothes, the update said.

It added that mobilized Russian troops who "arrived in the area to perform combat missions did not undergo appropriate training and lack practical skills in the use of basic types of weapons. This leads to significant losses of enemy manpower."  .  .  .

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-losses-fueled-new-units-untrained-basic-weaponry-ukraine-1755259

[sneakypete]

Russian Losses Fueled by New Units Untrained in 'Basic' Weaponry: Ukraine

ZOE STROZEWSKI  |  10/27/22  |  4:06 PM EDT

ussian forces in Ukraine are seeing "significant" manpower losses because of their lack of training with "basic" types of weapons, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Thursday.

In an operational update on Facebook, the General Staff detailed what it said were some of the issues facing Russia's troops in the Ukraine war. These included a lack of material and technical support for Russian units taking part in "hostilities" on Ukrainian territory. In the southern Kherson region, for example, there have been increases in theft and looting by Russian soldiers who don't have access to warm clothes, the update said.

It added that mobilized Russian troops who "arrived in the area to perform combat missions did not undergo appropriate training and lack practical skills in the use of basic types of weapons. This leads to significant losses of enemy manpower."  .  .  .

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-losses-fueled-new-units-untrained-basic-weaponry-ukraine-1755259

@Hoodat

These "losses" are not numbers. They are young men from a society that was already dying off due to Soviet population control methods,and they literally can NOT be replaced because there is no one available to replace them.

The Soviets thought this population control method made excellent sense because this meant there would be more wealth and power to be shared with fewer people.

This bill is now coming due several generations too late to do anything about it other than to take care to not waste the lives of any more of their young men and women.

Kinda late for that,too.

Pooty-Poot and the cabal of international criminals known as the Neo-Soviet Politburo just managed to burn Russia's future to the ground.

I can only hope that one day there will be more international war crimes tribunals like there was with the Nazi's after WW-2,and that Putin and the entire neo-Soviet leadership are hanged in public for this massive crime against humanity.

[Hoodat]

Fresh Ukrainian armor moving forward

video

(music from Black Sabbath)

[Hoodat]

Written off in advance How an untrained and unarmed ‘platoon’ of new conscripts from Moscow was decimated near Svatove

Elizabeth Nesterova  |  25 October 2022, 12:02

Source:  https://zona.media/article/2022/10/25/anabasis


Photo: screenshot of the video of the YouTube channel Rus_GamerPro

On October 8, a group of new conscripts from the Moscow region recorded an understated but still urgent video, in which they hoped to tell the civilian audience about their circumstances. Their platoon of 30 was about to be sent to Lyman, to take part in a Russian offensive there. The soldiers, dressed in rag-tag uniforms each of them had to put together around retail shops, said that they were going to the front without any training, and with weapons that were “rusty, stuck, or jammed.” With only a day’s worth of firing practice, and no acquaintance at all with the vehicles some of them would have to drive, they felt completely unprepared to be sent to a war “hot spot.” The day after recording the video, the platoon of 30 was sent to the Luhansk region. By October 17, when the video was first published on YouTube, only 13 men were left in the unit. The rest of them were either dead or missing. Here’s what happened to the platoon, based on an extended investigation published recently by Mediazona and the videos recorded by the soldiers — one of them still unpublished.

Most of the men who appeared in the published video (which has now been removed from YouTube) had been drafted on September 23–25 — that is, in the very first days of mobilization, which started on September 21.

According to his sister, one of them received a draft letter on September 22. On September 25, he was sent, straight from the draft office, to the army base in Alabino, a village on the outskirts of Naro-Fominsk, a town in the Moscow region. Over the several days he spent there, he was able to buy himself a uniform and all the other essential gear.

From Alabino, the conscripts were taken to a camp near the village of Nikitovka in the Belgorod region, which shares a border with Ukraine. From there, via a village called Khokhlovo, they were sent to the Luhansk region. In all that time, they got nothing that would even resemble adequate training. The mobilized men were assigned to the First platoon, Second company of the Fifteenth motorized rifle regiment within the “elite” Taman Division, stationed in Naro-Fominsk.

By October 9, they had arrived in the vicinity of Svatove, a Ukrainian city in the Luhansk region. There, the command deposited them in a “small grove,” leaving them with a non-working radio, so that the troops had no communication “either with the headquarters, the commander, or the Second or Third platoons.” All in all, there were 30 of them in position, including one BMP mechanic-driver who had never seen his combat vehicle.

In one of the two videos they made, the soldiers explained that they were barely armed. They had machine guns, but no hand grenades, and no rounds for the RPG launcher. One of the machine guns was broken. Soon the company commander ordered the platoon to “meet the enemy column.” The soldiers objected that they’d never fired an RPG, to which the commander replied: “Why don’t I send you ahead to the first line, and you’ll warm up your weapons right there.”

In the evening on October 12, the platoon’s positions came under Ukrainian artillery fire. An hour later, they saw a group of 30–40 Russian troops moving towards the front line.

We came up to those guys, asking what was going on, whether the village had been surrendered. They answered: “The battle is lost, we were beaten with mortars, we’re retreating.” There were about two companies there, the Fifth and Sixth companies, conscripts exactly like ourselves. One of them said that there would be a tank battle soon.

Shortly afterwards, four Russian tanks drove past the First platoon’s positions, in the direction of the frontline, with the headlights on. 20 minutes later, the men heard artillery fire, and soon the tanks came back, at a low speed, with all the lights turned off. “We all jumped up, gathered our guns and bulletproof vests, got our bags, and just followed the tanks,” said one of the conscripts. Their officers tried to stop them from retreating, but when artillery shells began to strike nearby, “they all scattered like cockroaches,” jumping into their vehicles and leaving.  .  .

https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/10/26/written-off-in-advance

[Hoodat]

Mobilization chaos in Russia

[sneakypete]

The Soviets were famous for restricting information to the serfs that sever them,so I have to wonder in this day of cell phones and global communications,how much,if any,of this is getting back to the Russian population.

Surely this can't just continue to happen with no consequences to what passes for leadership these days.

[bilo]

Well, it was apparent that without the awesome firepower and know-how of the Coalition (esp. US) forces, they were going to be overrun, especially when the high ranking people were fleeing with their pockets full.

That's a big contrast with "I don't need a ride, I need more ammo." 

Some people/cultures are better at inspiring a population to fight, for one thing, and the memory of the Holodomor stands in stark contrast to the history of a nation that has never been conquered from without by foreigners.

Nothing like strong leadership at a moment of crisis.

When all we are asked for is the supplying of weapons to defend themselves from invaders I'm all for it. The Ukrainians have proven they are more than capable given the weaponry.

[Hoodat]

Russians withdraw military equipment from key airfield near occupied Kherson

2022/10/29 - 14:17

Satellite images from 27 October shared by OSINT analyst Tim Ehrhart show that Russian troops have fully withdrawn their military equipment stationed at the Chornobaivka airfield

https://twitter.com/ArtisanalAPT/status/1586098526941237249

Made by the Satel Logic company, they show only abandoned trenches for equipment in which the Russians attempted to hide their equipment from Ukrainian strikes.  .  .

https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/10/29/russians-withdraw-military-equipment-from-key-airfield-near-occupied-kherson/