Ukraine 4

[Maj. Bill Martin]

It's basically a raid -- land, blow sh*t up, then leave.  Really just for propaganda.

The Ukrainians lack the ability to do anything approaching a significant amphibious operation, much less keeping those troops supplied after the landing.  Can't see the Russians relocating any significant forces to deter future landings.  They'll just up their levels of air/naval alert, and perhaps the rear-area troops will get a bit more active.  Still a fun thing to do, and no real reason not to do it.

[Timber Rattler]

It's basically a raid -- land, blow sh*t up, then leave.  Really just for propaganda.

The Ukrainians lack the ability to do anything approaching a significant amphibious operation, much less keeping those troops supplied after the landing.  Can't see the Russians relocating any significant forces to deter future landings.  They'll just up their levels of air/naval alert, and perhaps the rear-area troops will get a bit more active.  Still a fun thing to do, and no real reason not to do it.

They might have been the ones who took out that S-400 SAM site.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1694294328317743123

[240B]

[PeteS in CA]

The Su-27 and Su-30 are mid-late 80s Soviet analogs to the F-15C and F-15E (i.e. single and dual seat). So in addition to losing a valuable transport helicopter, some fairly modern Russian fighters and strike-fighters are going to have to wait a bit longer for parts.

[240B]

Half a Mil - not bad

[240B]

[PeteS in CA]

Russia Today,

The Covid vaccines used in Russia were all developed and produced in Russia, Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, CoviVac, and Sputnik Light (may not have been deployed), but Russia Today's target audience isn't supposed to know that. Another thing Russia Today's target audience isn't supposed to know is that none of those vaccines use Bogey-mRNA technology.

More importantly, a distraction attempt, no matter how silly, signifies that there is something from which someone wants a distraction.

[240B]

The article says, "Evidence from multiple monitoring systems from around the globe support association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis." The article is citing global evidence around the world, and not just what is happening in Russia.

Also, it was a private plane with a private pilot. The pilot could have been any nationality, not necessarily Russian.

[Hoodat]

It was almost certainly symbolic, and intended mostly to rile up the Orcs.

Here are the soldiers who did it.  They are hightailing it back to Odesa while a Russian Su-25 strafes them with a 30mm autocannon.

from r/UkraineWarVideoReport

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/15zza06/another_video_from_the_work_of_one_of_the_gur/

[Kamaji]

That is colloquially called "muddying the waters" - Russian propaganda designed to detract from Putin's otherwise obvious culpability.

[Timber Rattler]

That is colloquially called "muddying the waters" - Russian propaganda designed to detract from Putin's otherwise obvious culpability.

Yeah, the vaccine had absolutely nothing to do with the shootdown (and that's what it was).  And it was no coincidence that Utkin was aboard too...Putin got two birds with one stone.  He waited long enough to let things simmer down from Prigozhin's mutiny, separated him from his men, and than BANG...he's dead, and "Mr. Wagner" Utkin too for good measure!

[Kamaji]

Ukraine launches missile strike on Russian airfield housing Putin's supersonic bombers

Footage shows a suspected modified S-200 missile in an explosion near the base
Strike came during what may have been war's busiest night of Ukrainian attacks

By WILL STEWART and ELENA SALVONI
25 August 2023

Ukraine launched a spectacular overnight missile strike inside Russia today at a military airfield where Vladimir Putin's supersonic Tu-22M3 strategic bombers are based.

Footage shows a suspected modified S-200 missile in a giant explosion in darkness at or near the Shaykovka military airfield, southwest of Moscow.

Russia claims to have shot down an S-200 missile. There is so far no independent information on damage from the attack.

The bombardment came during what may have been the busiest night of Ukrainian attacks on Russia and Russian-held territory during the war.

Two major Moscow international airports - Vnukovo and Domodedovo - were closed, leading to significant disruption for incoming and outgoing planes.

Russian air defences were also in action in Tula region, south of the capital, which borders Kaluga region amid suspected drone attacks.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12444869/Ukraine-launches-missile-strike-Russian-airfield-supersonic-bombers.html

[rangerrebew]

Ukraine to cost half-trillion more if war ends now
Ukraine war will end up being the most costly and perhaps corrupt foreign operation ever carried out by the United States
By STEPHEN BRYEN
AUGUST 23, 2023
 

If the Ukraine war ended tomorrow, the United States still would need to send hundreds of billions in aid to that country. The bill includes continuation of military assistance, budget support for the Ukrainian government and reconstruction assistance.

President Biden has just asked for another US$24 billion to support Ukraine, primarily for military equipment but also budget support ($7.3 billion). While Congress is increasingly skeptical about another huge chunk of money to fund an endless conflict, this is peanuts compared with what will be asked after the war ends.
 
The World Bank has done a revised estimate on reconstruction needs, based on data from the first year of the war (February 2022 to February 2023).  The Bank says that Ukraine needs $411 billion for reconstruction over a ten-year period.

https://asiatimes.com/2023/08/ukraine-to-cost-half-trillion-more-if-war-ends-now/

[rangerrebew]

Putin Can’t Hide This: 260,000 Dead And Wounded In Ukraine For Russia
The Russian campaign in Ukraine isn’t going well. That is no secret to anyone who has been even vaguely following the 19-month conflict.


ByStavros Atlamazoglou
Published 6 seconds ago
 

The Russian campaign in Ukraine isn’t going well. That is no secret to anyone who has been even vaguely following the 19-month conflict.

In a rare move to become more involved in his invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently visited the headquarters responsible for a “special military operation” in the neighboring country.

Putin Visits the Front
Over the weekend, Putin visited the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, about 90 miles from the frontlines in Ukraine.

The Southern Military District hosts the staff that is responsible for running the “special military operation” in Ukraine. The Wagner Group briefly captured the headquarters in June when it launched its surprise mutiny.

In Rostov-on-Don, the Russian leader held a meeting with some of his most senior military officers, including Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov, who is also running the “special military operation” in Ukraine; Putin appointed him in that position in January.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/08/putin-cant-hide-this-260000-dead-and-wounded-in-ukraine-for-russia/

[DefiantMassRINO]

Why would dead and wounded be a concern to Russian leadership?

Historically, the Russian/Soviet militaries have not lot high casualties dissuade them from a battle plan.  They just keep sending in more soldiers, and shooting the ones that attempt to retreat.

Ukraine may become another Afghanistan for the Russians/Soviets, as the West uses the conflict to bleed the Russians dry.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Ukraine would need to conduct policy that grew GDP rapidly.  Ukraine has natural resources. The industrial and manufacturing capacity in the Donbas has been degraded.

The best approach for Ukraine is to not hamstring their recovery by imposing Green policy restrictions on them.  Coal and Natural gas are the fuels that will allow for the quickest restoration of their electric grid.  Ukraine will also need to rebuild transportation infrastructure with minimal delay.  Delays for environmental nonsense - salamanders, newts, spotted owls, etc. - will increase the costs of time and money for economic recovery.

Once Ukraine has a stable economy with stable GDP growth, then, may afford the luxury of Green nonsense.

[PeteS in CA]

The article says, "Evidence from multiple monitoring systems from around the globe support association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis." The article is citing global evidence around the world, and not just what is happening in Russia.

Also, it was a private plane with a private pilot. The pilot could have been any nationality, not necessarily Russian.

Headline says: Prigozhin pilot had post vaccine myocarditis, heart attack may be cause of crash. The headline clearly claims a Covid vaccine caused the crash.

The pilot's name was Alexei Levshin. That is an obviously Slavic name. And do you really think it even slightly plausible that Prigozhin would trust a pilot who was not a Wagner Group member? In other words, IF Levshin had been vaccinated against Covid - is there evidence he was? - he most likely received a Russian developed vaccine (none of which use Bogey-mRNA vaccine technology).

In the real world the most likely causes of the crash are surface-to-air missile or air-to-air missiles. Witness reports mention two smoke trails toward the area from which Prigozhin's plane fell, making missiles the likely suspects, at this point.

[Kamaji]

Headline says: Prigozhin pilot had post vaccine myocarditis, heart attack may be cause of crash. The headline clearly claims a Covid vaccine caused the crash.

The pilot's name was Alexei Levshin. That is an obviously Slavic name. And do you really think it even slightly plausible that Prigozhin would trust a pilot who was not a Wagner Group member? In other words, IF Levshin had been vaccinated against Covid - is there evidence he was? - he most likely received a Russian developed vaccine (none of which use Bogey-mRNA vaccine technology).

In the real world the most likely causes of the crash are surface-to-air missile or air-to-air missiles. Witness reports mention two smoke trails toward the area from which Prigozhin's plane fell, making missiles the likely suspects, at this point.

It may also have been an on-board bomb.

[PeteS in CA]

It may also have been an on-board bomb.

That is another common theory.

[GtHawk]

Um why would we need to send more financial aid to a country I thought was oil rich? And why isn't there any sort of agreement to recompense the American people for all the treasure taken from them to support the Ukraine? Why isn't MotherF'kn Russia that is on the hook to pay for their aggression? There was no problem making Germany and thee Austro Hungarian empire pay for it's aggression. Why is it now always the American people who get the shit end of the stick? The only difference this time vs. every war/conflict the the American taxpayer has underwritten since WWII is that, so far no child of an American sacrificed life, limb or mind in the name of stopping communism or moslem terrorism.

[ScottinVA]

Meanwhile, I looked in at the slums of TOS and found them to be typically and laughably apoplectic at this:

https://americanwirenews.com/defense-department-announces-it-will-now-train-ukrainian-pilots-ground-crews-on-f-16s-in-arizona/

🇺🇦👍

[Cyber Liberty]

Meanwhile, I looked in at the slums of TOS and found them to be typically and laughably apoplectic at this:

https://americanwirenews.com/defense-department-announces-it-will-now-train-ukrainian-pilots-ground-crews-on-f-16s-in-arizona/

🇺🇦👍

Tucson is an odd choice.  I was sure it would be Luke.

[ScottinVA]

That 260k figure is probably a conservative estimate.  By comparison, the orcs lost 15,000 over the span of the entire incursion in Afghanistan.  The number of dead orcs is going to go significantly higher once the Ukrainians break through those defensive lines.

[PeteS in CA]

Um why would we need to send more financial aid to a country I thought was oil rich? ...

Ukraine is "oil rich"? Got data to support that statement?

Per this webpage, https://www.worldometers.info/oil/ukraine-oil/ , in 2016 Ukraine's oil consumption was nearly 5 times its production. Also in that data, Ukraine's 2016 oil production was 61st out of 127 countries for which the site has production data.

But looking at the data here, https://www.worldometers.info/oil/oil-production-by-country/ , Russia is the third highest oil producer in the world.

[240B]

[Hoodat]

"Here's what we know.

More like "Here's the bullshit we are being fed".  If Russia had any T-14s in Ukraine, they would be smoldering ruins by now.  Ukraine would have hit them directly on the trailers they would have been towed around on, because there is no way they could have been driven anywhere under their own power without an engine burning out.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

More like "Here's the bullshit we are being fed".  If Russia had any T-14s in Ukraine, they would be smoldering ruins by now.  Ukraine would have hit them directly on the trailers they would have been towed around on, because there is no way they could have been driven anywhere under their own power without an engine burning out.

Yup.  The problem is that the entire tank was designed around a particular engine that the Russians have never gotten to work correctly.  Normally, you'd just put a different engine in it, but nothing else they've got would fit because, again, the tank was designed around an engine with very specific dimensions.

Just found an article that describes.some.of the problems with it.  One thing I didn't know was that they never had a T-14 assembly line, which meant they were all piece-built like a Rolls-Royce.  At this point, it's basically the chupacabra of tanks.

[Smokin Joe]

Ukraine is "oil rich"? Got data to support that statement?

Per this webpage, https://www.worldometers.info/oil/ukraine-oil/ , in 2016 Ukraine's oil consumption was nearly 5 times its production. Also in that data, Ukraine's 2016 oil production was 61st out of 127 countries for which the site has production data.

But looking at the data here, https://www.worldometers.info/oil/oil-production-by-country/ , Russia is the third highest oil producer in the world.

While not as Oil rich as some might say, 87% of Ukraine's oil and gas production just happened to be in the Donbas.

[Timber Rattler]

Ukraine’s Forces and Firepower Are Misallocated, U.S. Officials Say

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/us/politics/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-war.html

Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive is struggling to break through entrenched Russian defenses in large part because it has too many troops, including some of its best combat units, in the wrong places, American and other Western officials say.

The main goal of the counteroffensive is to cut off Russian supply lines in southern Ukraine by severing the so-called land bridge between Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. But instead of focusing on that, Ukrainian commanders have divided troops and firepower roughly equally between the east and the south, the U.S. officials said.

As a result, more Ukrainian forces are near Bakhmut and other cities in the east than are near Melitopol and Berdiansk in the south, both far more strategically significant fronts, officials say.

American planners have advised Ukraine to concentrate on the front driving toward Melitopol, Kyiv’s top priority, and on punching through Russian minefields and other defenses, even if the Ukrainians lose more soldiers and equipment in the process.

Only with a change of tactics and a dramatic move can the tempo of the counteroffensive change, said one U.S. official, who like the other half a dozen Western officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Another U.S. official said the Ukrainians were too spread out and needed to consolidate their combat power in one place.

Nearly three months into the counteroffensive, the Ukrainians may be taking the advice to heart, especially as casualties continue to mount and Russia still holds an edge in troops and equipment.

In a video teleconference on Aug. 10, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; his British counterpart, Adm. Sir Tony Radakin; and Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the top U.S. commander in Europe, urged Ukraine’s most senior military commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, to focus on one main front. And, according to two officials briefed on the call, General Zaluzhnyi agreed.

EXCERPT

This story irks me...it's pretty easy to give advice like that when it's the Ukrainians who have to do the bleeding and sacrificing, especially since those U.S. recommendations undoubtedly stem from the results of computer simulations and wargaming.  I fully understand the Ukrainians' need to conserve their manpower and limited resources despite what Milley and EURCOM want, because it is more convenient for American political interests.  And plus, they have to keep an eye out on what the Russians may try to do in the north and northeast, when Wagner was sent to Belarus and the latest draft of mobiiki were jammed into Lohansk Oblast.  The Ukrainians know their own country and what will work and won't work, so I say let them fight their own battles using their own strategies, with some gentle intelligence and SpecOp help from the West when asked for.

[PeteS in CA]

While not as Oil rich as some might say, 87% of Ukraine's oil and gas production just happened to be in the Donbas.

The Donets Basin is currently occupied by Russia. So while Ukraine was able to supply a bit over 1/5 of its oil needs in 2016 - i.e. far from "oil rich" - Ukraine's oil production has been vastly reduced, making it all the farther from "oil rich".

[Kamaji]

Ukraine’s Forces and Firepower Are Misallocated, U.S. Officials Say

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/us/politics/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-war.html

EXCERPT

This story irks me...it's pretty easy to give advice like that when it's the Ukrainians who have to do the bleeding and sacrificing, especially since those U.S. recommendations undoubtedly stem from the results of computer simulations and wargaming.  I fully understand the Ukrainians' need to conserve their manpower and limited resources despite what Milley and EURCOM want, because it is more convenient for American political interests.  And plus, they have to keep an eye out on what the Russians may try to do in the north and northeast, when Wagner was sent to Belarus and the latest draft of mobiiki were jammed into Lohansk Oblast.  The Ukrainians know their own country and what will work and won't work, so I say let them fight their own battles using their own strategies, with some gentle intelligence and SpecOp help from the West when asked for.

[PeteS in CA]

Yet, strangely - if one believes the NYT article - the Ukrainians are advancing in two areas of the Melitopol-Mariupol front. Ukraine has broken through the Russians' first line of defense and is rolling up the forces along that line with flank attacks. I haven't seen news about it in a day or two, so they may also be making progress into the Russians' second defensive line.

Maybe the Ukrainians are giving US officials news a bit delayed, not trusting them to know not to blab. As for Bakhmut, progress there threatens significant Russian occupied cities and force the Russians to keep their troops in that area well away from the Melitopol-Mariupol front.

[DB]

Yet, strangely - if one believes the NYT article - the Ukrainians are advancing in two areas of the Melitopol-Mariupol front. Ukraine has broken through the Russians' first line of defense and is rolling up the forces along that line with flank attacks. I haven't seen news about it in a day or two, so they may also be making progress into the Russians' second defensive line.

Maybe the Ukrainians are giving US officials news a bit delayed, not trusting them to know not to blab. As for Bakhmut, progress there threatens significant Russian occupied cities and force the Russians to keep their troops in that area well away from the Melitopol-Mariupol front.

It is also possible this is all just a smoke screen to hide or mislead the Russians to what is actually going on. Who knows.

[Timber Rattler]

Putin Orders Wagner Fighters to Sign Oath of Allegiance After Prigozhin's Demise

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-08-25/kremlin-calls-accusations-it-killed-wagner-boss-prigozhin-an-absolute-lie

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state after a deadly plane crash believed to have killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the volatile chief of the mercenary group.

Putin signed the decree bringing in the change with immediate effect on Friday after the Kremlin said that Western suggestions that Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an "absolute lie". The Kremlin declined to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results.

Russia's aviation authority has said that Prigozhin was on board a private jet which crashed on Wednesday evening northwest of Moscow with no survivors exactly two months after he led a failed mutiny against army chiefs.

President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to the families of those killed in the crash on Thursday and spoke of Prigozhin in the past tense.

He cited "preliminary information" as indicating that Prigozhin and his top Wagner associates had all been killed and, while praising Prigozhin, said he had also made some "serious mistakes."

Putin's introduction of a mandatory oath for employees of Wagner and other private military contractors was a clear move to bring such groups under tighter state control.

The decree, published on the Kremlin website, obliges anyone carrying out work on behalf of the military or supporting what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine to swear a formal oath of allegiance to Russia.

Described in the decree as a step to forge the spiritual and moral foundations of the defence of Russia, the wording of the oath includes a line in which those who take it promise to strictly follow the orders of commanders and senior leaders.

EXCERPT

That didn't take long.

[GtHawk]

Ukraine is "oil rich"? Got data to support that statement?

Per this webpage, https://www.worldometers.info/oil/ukraine-oil/ , in 2016 Ukraine's oil consumption was nearly 5 times its production. Also in that data, Ukraine's 2016 oil production was 61st out of 127 countries for which the site has production data.

But looking at the data here, https://www.worldometers.info/oil/oil-production-by-country/ , Russia is the third highest oil producer in the world.

@PeteS in CA
I freely acknowledge my error in the oil rich comment, I surely misread something about that in the past, as far as the rest no, I don't believe Americans should be paying for any rebuilding.

[240B]

[240B]

Discovered on the wall of Prigozhin's estate.

[Hoodat]

Russians retreating near Novoprokopivka:

from r/UkraineWarVideoReport

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/161pqb1/the_russian_invaders_had_no_alternative_but_to/

[Hoodat]

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1695490333209919871

[Hoodat]

Ukraine 30th Sep Mech Brigade

from r/UkraineWarVideoReport

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1624i3d/a_pair_of_ukrainian_tanks_from_the_30th_separate/

[Hoodat]

More 30th Mech Brigade

from r/UkraineWarVideoReport

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1604vqs/ukrainian_soldiers_of_the_30th_mechanized_brigade/

[Smokin Joe]

The Donets Basin is currently occupied by Russia. So while Ukraine was able to supply a bit over 1/5 of its oil needs in 2016 - i.e. far from "oil rich" - Ukraine's oil production has been vastly reduced, making it all the farther from "oil rich".

Play with the meaning of "rich" if you want to, but NINE TENTHS of their oil production comes from the oblasts Russia invaded. Russia was also pushing to land lock the rest of the country, which would have given Russia control over not only the ports and shipping, but any offshore reserves as well. This started as a resource grab.

[PeteS in CA]

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1695490333209919871

 

The map on the right shows a couple of things. First, that little salient is about half way between the Russians' thoroughly penetrated first line of defense and the second line. Second, the salient is near a gap in the second line, which might set up simultaneous frontal and flank attacks on that end of the second line. If that happens and if it is successful, the Ukrainians could roll up the trenched of the second line, broadening their salient, making it resistant to being pinched off. And, of course, the Ukrainians would be 2 or 3 miles closer to the Melitopol-Mariupol shore, with just one prepared line of defense between.

[PeteS in CA]

Play with the meaning of "rich" if you want to, but NINE TENTHS of their oil production comes from the oblasts Russia invaded. Russia was also pushing to land lock the rest of the country, which would have given Russia control over not only the ports and shipping, but any offshore reserves as well. This started as a resource grab.

Who is playing word games? I pointed out that Ukraine consumed in 2016 almost five times as much oil as it produced. Therefore Ukraine was not "oil rich" before Russia invaded.

You pointed out that most Ukrainian oil is in the Donets Basin, and I added that Russia currently occupies that territory. That means that Ukraine is now far less "oil rich" than in 2016. Did you totally misunderstand my posts, @Smokin Joe? There's far more of industrial value in the Donets Basin than just oil, so Ukraine is trying to liberate their sovereign territory, not doing some sort of blood-for-oil thingy (not that anyone has posted that idea).

[Smokin Joe]

Who is playing word games? I pointed out that Ukraine consumed in 2016 almost five times as much oil as it produced. Therefore Ukraine was not "oil rich" before Russia invaded.

You pointed out that most Ukrainian oil is in the Donets Basin, and I added that Russia currently occupies that territory. That means that Ukraine is now far less "oil rich" than in 2016. Did you totally misunderstand my posts, @Smokin Joe? There's far more of industrial value in the Donets Basin than just oil, so Ukraine is trying to liberate their sovereign territory, not doing some sort of blood-for-oil thingy (not that anyone has posted that idea).

If you ever read any of my earlier posts on this topic, you would understand that yes, there is far more than oil there, as I have repeatedly pointed out. I am a geologist, and have likely a better understanding of the natural and (former) industrial resources of the region. I have said this war is not motivated by politics, but resources from the get-go.  And myabe I failed to communicate to YOU that these are the most oil rich areas of Ukraine. I never said they were Venezuela, ffs.

[Kamaji]

Russia deploys its best fighting unit to the front lines in desperate bid to halt Ukraine advance as counter-offensive achieves breakthrough

    Kyiv claims to have captured the southern city of Robotyne in its push south
    Reports suggest Russia has moved elite units to slow Ukraine's advance

By Chris Jewers
28 August 2023

Russia has deployed one of its most elite fighting units to the frontlines in a desperate bid to halt Ukraine's advance.

While Kyiv's counter-offensive has made slow progress since it was launched earlier this year, Ukraine reported a breakthrough on Monday saying its troops had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne.

Its forces are now trying to push further south, likely with the ultimate goal of reaching the Sea of Azov to split Russia's 'land bridge' that connects the invading country's mainland to occupied Crimea, providing a vital supply route.

The Ukrainian military said last week that its forces had raised the national flag in the strategic settlement, but were still carrying out mopping-up operations.

In response, reports have said Moscow has deployed its 76th Guard Air Assault Division (GAAD) - sometimes described as Russia's best fighting unit - to the region, with elements being spotted near Robotyne last week, according to reports.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12452445/Russia-deploys-elite-unit-frontline-stop-counter-offensive-south-76th-Guard-Air-Assault-Division.html

[Kamaji]

Ukraine says it has liberated strategic southeastern settlement Robotyne

By Reuters   
August 28, 2023

Ukraine said on Monday its troops had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to push further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military said last week that its forces had raised the national flag in the strategic settlement, but were still carrying out mopping-up operations.

Ukrainian forces believe they have broken through the most difficult line of Russian defenses in the south and that they will now start advancing more quickly, a commander who led troops into Robotyne told Reuters last week.

“Robotyne has been liberated,” Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar was quoted as saying by the military.

The settlement is 10 km (six miles) south of the frontline town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region on an important road towards Tokmak, a Russian-occupied road and rail hub.

Tokmak’s capture would be a milestone as Ukrainian troops press southwards towards the Sea of Azov in a military drive that is intended to split Russian forces following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Maliar told Ukrainian television that Kyiv’s troops, who began their counteroffensive in early June, were now moving southeast of Robotyne and south of nearby Mala Tokmachka.

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/08/28/ukraine-says-it-has-liberated-southeastern-settlement-robotyne/

[240B]

16 cardboard PPDS UAV attacked Kursk airfield, destroyed: 4 fighters SU-27/30, 1 MiG-29, 1 S-300 radar, 2 Pancyrs, only 4 UAVs were destroyed by air defense, they're extremely hard to detect on radar

[Kamaji]

16 cardboard PPDS UAV attacked Kursk airfield, destroyed: 4 fighters SU-27/30, 1 MiG-29, 1 S-300 radar, 2 Pancyrs, only 4 UAVs were destroyed by air defense, they're extremely hard to detect on radar

Sweet!  They're apparently using so-called Sypaq Corvo Precision Payload Delivery Systems; wiki page:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sypaq_Corvo_Precision_Payload_Delivery_System

[Kamaji]

Ukraine's troops pick off Putin's soldiers one-by-one in brutal close-quarters combat footage as Kyiv's counter-offensive makes more gains into Russia's Zaporizhzhia defences

    Ukraine confirmed on Monday that its armed forces had captured Robotyne
    It is the latest in a series of villages liberated as soldiers continue to push south

By Chris Jewers
29 August 2023

Ukraine's forces have pushed deeper into Russian defensive lines in the country's south, Kyiv said today, as footage emerged of intense close-quarters combat between Ukraine's armed forces and Moscow's invading infantrymen.

Kyiv launched a grinding counteroffensive in June after stockpiling Western-supplied weapons and building up assault battalions. Unlike two rapid assaults last summer, Ukraine's armies have made slow progress through dense defences and minefields.

Nevertheless, gains have been made, and on Monday Kyiv confirmed the Armed Forces of Ukraine had liberated the village of Robotyne on the southern front - the latest in a series of villages liberated as Ukraine pushes towards the Sea of Azov.

As Ukraine has stepped up its assault, Russia has stepped up its shelling. On Tuesday, Kyiv ordered the evacuation of children from five towns in the region.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that the evacuation of children from the Vasylivskyi and Pologivskyi districts is now mandatory. Around 50 children are still though to be living in the districts.

This came as footage was released showing brutal, close-quarters fighting between Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, bringing home the reality of a war that is nearing its 19th month and showing no sign of ending.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12456657/Ukraine-troops-make-gains-Robotyne-Zaporizhzhia-counteroffensive.html