Ukraine 4

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/officejjsmart/status/1658436706163388418

[Kamaji]

Ukraine denies Russian claim that hypersonic missile destroyed a Patriot defence system

The Guardian
May 17, 2023

Ukraine denied on Wednesday that a Russian hypersonic missile had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system during an airstrike on Kyiv.

Russia’s defence ministry made the assertion on Tuesday after an overnight air attack on the Ukrainian capital. Two US officials later said a Patriot system had probably suffered damage but that it did not appear to have been destroyed.

“I want to say: do not worry about the fate of the Patriot,” Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television.

He ruled out the possibility of a Russian “Kinzhal” missile knocking out a Patriot system.

“Destroying the system with some kind of ‘Kinzhal’, it’s impossible. Everything that they say there, it can remain in their propaganda archive,” Reuters reports he said.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/may/17/russia-ukraine-war-live-last-ship-to-leave-ukraine-under-current-grain-deal-jets-pledge-a-good-start-says-zelenskiy

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/WilliamYang120/status/1658746764516798464

[sneakypete]

Pretty much all I see are positive news reports on how the Ukrainian army  is holding the neo-Soviet army in place,while defeating them and decimating their ranks.

Being a bit of a pessimist,I find it hard to believe that the Neo-Soviets aren't winning SOME battles somewhere.

What is the truth of this? Does anyone really know?

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Pretty much all I see are positive news reports on how the Ukrainian army  is holding the neo-Soviet army in place,while defeating them and decimating their ranks.

Being a bit of a pessimist,I find it hard to believe that the Neo-Soviets aren't winning SOME battles somewhere.

What is the truth of this? Does anyone really know?

.

When both sides agree on the same set of facts, it's pretty safe to assume that that is correct. So....

Russia has been trying to take Bakhmut, a city of about 70, 000 (pre-war), since last summer.  Plenty of contemporaneous news reports from back then, from both Russian and Ukrainian sources, acknowledging that.  Now obviously, the reports at that time didn't agree on how that battle was going, but they did agree that the battle was ongoing.    The two sides also agree even now that the battle for Bakhmut is still ongoing. 

What that tells us is that Russia has been trying unsuccessfully for more than 9 months to take that single city in Luhansk.  If you go back and read the reports from Russian sources from last year, they were full of predictions that the city had either almost fallen, or was about to fall.  But clearly, that still has not happened. 

There are also very public reports of infighting between the commander of the Wagner PMC, and the Russian Army.    So the least we can be sure of is that the focus of the Russian offensives since last July have been far less successful than the Russians themselves ever anticipated.   And we know that by comparing their series of predictions/announcements over time that the city is about to fall with their own present-day acknowledgments let the city has not fallen, and that they have actually withdrawn to more defensible positions to the north and south of the city.

I don't think even the Russians themselves have claimed to have made any advancements of note on any other front.  It's pretty.much been all about Bakhmut since August 1.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Pretty much all I see are positive news reports on how the Ukrainian army  is holding the neo-Soviet army in place,while defeating them and decimating their ranks.

Being a bit of a pessimist,I find it hard to believe that the Neo-Soviets aren't winning SOME battles somewhere.

What is the truth of this? Does anyone really know?

Well what I reasoned is that they're either losing the war for real this bad, or they're losing the war of messaging even worse.

[Kamaji]

Pretty much all I see are positive news reports on how the Ukrainian army  is holding the neo-Soviet army in place,while defeating them and decimating their ranks.

Being a bit of a pessimist,I find it hard to believe that the Neo-Soviets aren't winning SOME battles somewhere.

What is the truth of this? Does anyone really know?

They continue to make inroads in Bakhmut itself, but have lost territory to Ukraine outside of the city center.  They have also managed to hit some Ukraine ammo depots, in addition to the terrorism they continue to inflict on Ukraine civilians.

[sneakypete]

.

 
I don't think even the Russians themselves have claimed to have made any advancements of note on any other front.   

@Maj. Bill Martin

I agree,and that is maybe the most puzzling part of this. Name ONE previous war where the attackers weren't making all sorts  of wild claims about their  military successes.

Name ANY previous conflict the USSR has been involved in that didn't seem to have more PR writers than soldiers.

I just don't "get" this.

[sneakypete]

Well what I reasoned is that they're either losing the war for real this bad, or they're losing the war of messaging even worse.

@Weird Tolkienish Figure

Maybe even  both,and wouldn't THAT be a reason for an international celebration?

[sneakypete]

They continue to make inroads in Bakhmut itself, but have lost territory to Ukraine outside of the city center.  They have also managed to hit some Ukraine ammo depots, in addition to the terrorism they continue to inflict on Ukraine civilians.

@Kamaji

I know,but "Dictators for Life" like  Pooty Poot just LOVE to talk about their epic victories over "the enemy",and we get nothing but silence for the most part.

THAT ain't no way for a dictator to run a country and a war he started.

[Kamaji]

@Kamaji

I know,but "Dictators for Life" like  Pooty Poot just LOVE to talk about their epic victories over "the enemy",and we get nothing but silence for the most part.

THAT ain't no way for a dictator to run a country and a war he started.

No "epic" victories for the Russians.  They are making noises over the destruction of the ammo depot, and are claiming to have destroyed a Patriot system, although U.S. and Ukraine sources say the Patriot system was damaged, not destroyed.  So pretty much, just weak beer for the Russians.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

@Maj. Bill Martin

I agree,and that is maybe the most puzzling part of this. Name ONE previous war where the attackers weren't making all sorts  of wild claims about their  military successes.

Name ANY previous conflict the USSR has been involved in that didn't seem to have more PR writers than soldiers.

I just don't "get" this.

I think that is largely a function of this being a war in the age of the internet, where most big picture claims could be proven true or false in a matter of days at most. 

We all saw how false claims of successes turned Baghdad Bob into an object of ridicule because he'd make a claim about how far we were away from Baghdad, and then American troops would take their picture next to the road signs showing how close they were.  I think the Russians are too good at propaganda to repeatedly make false claims that can be disproven so quickly.

They have made lots of claims about the results of missile strikes, or the number of Ukrainian troops killed, etc..  stuff that can't be easily disproven. But when it comes to what ground they actually control, there's really no point in even trying to lie about it.

[sneakypete]

I think that is largely a function of this being a war in the age of the internet, where most big picture claims could be proven true or false in a matter of days at most. 

We all saw how false claims of successes turned Baghdad Bob into an object of ridicule because he'd make a claim about how far we were away from Baghdad, and then American troops would take their picture next to the road signs showing how close they were.  I think the Russians are too good at propaganda to repeatedly make false claims that can be disproven so quickly.

They have made lots of claims about the results of missile strikes, or the number of Ukrainian troops killed, etc..  stuff that can't be easily disproven. But when it comes to what ground they actually control, there's really no point in even trying to lie about it.

@Maj. Bill Martin

All that is true,but it is also true that the ONLY people they really needed to fool were Russian citizens,who ALL grew up being taught that EVERYTHING the Maximum Leader claimed was the Gosphel truth.

The Soviet leadership didn't give a squat what people outside of Russia thought because no one outside of Russia was going to stage a revolt and hang them from street posts.

I am having a hard time picturing  ANYTHING I  would love to see more than loaded street posts.

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1658915771106435073

[Kamaji]

Wagner mercenary group leader accuses Russian troops of fleeing Bakhmut

By Isabel Keane
May 18, 2023

The head of the brutal Wagner mercenary group again took aim at the Russian army on Thursday, accusing it of putting its soldiers at risk by fleeing the site of some of the bloodiest fighting in the war.

Yevgeny Prigozhin — who has repeatedly accused Russian military officials of not doing enough to support his paramilitary force — said regular Russian troops are abandoning ground north and south of Bakhmut, the war-torn city where fighting has become so intense, it’s been dubbed “the meat grinder.”

“Unfortunately, units of the Russian defense ministry have withdrawn up to 570 meters [a third of a mile] to the north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks,” Prigozhin said in a voice message Thursday, according to Reuters.

“I am appealing to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense — publicly — because my letters are not being read.”

Prigozhin then begged Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov not to abandon his mercenary group’s flanks.

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/wagner-leader-accuses-russian-troops-of-fleeing-bakhmut/

[kevindavis007]

Wagner mercenary group leader accuses Russian troops of fleeing Bakhmut

By Isabel Keane
May 18, 2023

The head of the brutal Wagner mercenary group again took aim at the Russian army on Thursday, accusing it of putting its soldiers at risk by fleeing the site of some of the bloodiest fighting in the war.

Yevgeny Prigozhin — who has repeatedly accused Russian military officials of not doing enough to support his paramilitary force — said regular Russian troops are abandoning ground north and south of Bakhmut, the war-torn city where fighting has become so intense, it’s been dubbed “the meat grinder.”

“Unfortunately, units of the Russian defense ministry have withdrawn up to 570 meters [a third of a mile] to the north of Bakhmut, exposing our flanks,” Prigozhin said in a voice message Thursday, according to Reuters.

“I am appealing to the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense — publicly — because my letters are not being read.”

Prigozhin then begged Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov not to abandon his mercenary group’s flanks.

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/wagner-leader-accuses-russian-troops-of-fleeing-bakhmut/

I wonder when he is going to turn on the current Russian Government.

[Ghost Bear]

I wonder when he is going to turn on the current Russian Government.

I have seen speculation that he is already making moves against Putin.

[kevindavis007]

I have seen speculation that he is already making moves against Putin.

Well if he does, and IF it does work out, I hope he isn't worse than Putin.

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/officejjsmart/status/1659332194903420929

[Hoodat]

from r/UkraineWarVideoReport

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/13kg52g/the_russians_have_now_put_a_57_mm_s60/

[Cyber Liberty]

Well if he does, and IF it does work out, I hope he isn't worse than Putin.

He likely is.

[Timber Rattler]

Exclusive: U.S. could train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s in 4 months

https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-us-could-train-ukrainian-pilots-to-fly-f-16s-in-4-months-184136820.html

Yahoo News has exclusively obtained an internal U.S. Air Force assessment that concludes it would take only four months to train Ukrainian pilots to operate American-made F-16 fighter jets, a far shorter time frame than what has been repeatedly cited by Pentagon officials.

The document, which was shared with a number of NATO allies who fly F-16s, contains a detailed assessment undertaken in late February and early March at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Ariz., home to the 162nd Wing of the U.S. Air Force. Two Ukrainian airmen, one qualified on the MiG-29, the other on the Su-27, were given “no formal training” on the F-16, according to the assessment, other than a brief familiarization. They were then tested on a flight simulator, conducting “9 simulator events covering 11.5 total hours.”

See actual USAF report at link.

EXCERPT.

[Kamaji]

Putin's War, Week 64. Patriots Score Big and the Scene Is Set for Offensive Action

By streiff
May 18, 2023

Most of the action over the last week has been away from the line of contact between the forces. Fighting continues around Bakhmut that may or may not shape up to be something significant. At this stage of the conflict, I’ve come to the conclusion that Russia is obsessed with winning this battle, even if they immediately withdraw because they desperately need a battlefield success…or at least the Russian military command needs one.

The success of the Ukrainian layered air defense system, capped by Patriot, has been proven in spades this week as it fended off two large and determined Russian missile attacks.

A new Ukrainian brigade equipped with Leopard 2 tanks, CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles, and Archer 155mm artillery has just arrived in country from training in Sweden. These new brigades disappear as soon as they hit Ukrainian soil. In addition, the Ukrainians have stepped up their strikes on logistics areas, air defense systems, communications facilities, troop assembly areas, and headquarters. All of this indicates a shift in focus away from the front lines toward damaging Russia’s capacity to respond to an offensive.

Speaking of soil, the battlespace is rapidly drying and opening the window for offensive action by either side.

*  *  *

Source:  https://redstate.com/streiff/2023/05/18/putins-war-week-64-patriots-score-big-and-the-scene-is-set-for-offensive-action-n747749

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/officejjsmart/status/1659585371875733504

[DefiantMassRINO]

 

Is Pothole Pete in Crimea?