Ukraine 4

[catfish1957]

Only idiots would think an offensive has "utterly failed" against a dug in enemy in the course of a few months. Did they think they were just going to waltz in despite the year the Russians had to dig in? It takes time clear mines, blown bridges and trenches out and grind down the enemy. Just more veiled rooting for Putin so they can say they were right - right about something they've been wrong about since the start.

Agree there.

For a war that was supposed to last 2 weeks, I'd say there is no victory for the former USSR. This long protracted battle is a loss for Putin.  Now we just watch to see how bad it gets for him.

[Smokin Joe]

Ukraine’s Bogged-Down Counteroffensive
A military intelligence source explains why advanced weapons from the West might not be the answer.
by Paul Glastris August 21, 2023

The news out of Ukraine paints a sobering, though hardly hopeless, picture of the country’s counteroffensive against dug-in Russian forces. The Washington Post warns that Ukraine is “running out of options to retake significant territory.”

At the same time, The New York Times reports that while progress is slow, Ukrainian soldiers and commanders “say they are in better shape now than six or 12 months ago.”

Meanwhile, debate continues over the Biden administration’s reluctance to provide Kyiv with certain advanced weaponry. I had a text exchange about this with a source who has had a decades-long career in the U.S. military and the intelligence community, serving both in and out of government. The source requested anonymity to speak freely. The following Q&A has been edited for clarity.   ...
Washington Monthly

I guess the author or commenter in that piece never heard of M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge

MICLIC explosions from training exercises and footage from the War in Afghanistan. The M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC) is a rocket propelled explosive line charge. It is used to clear a path through minefields and other obstacles. The clearing line contains 1750 lbs. of C4 explosive and is approximately 350 feet long.

I know guys who used these in Desert Storm and say they are very effective at cutting mine-free lanes through minefields. (video at the link)

[Smokin Joe]

The Washington Post did nothing of the sort.

RFKJr is a lying sack of shit ('course, he is a democrat, so that's hardly surprising).

Nothing like pumping up Russian morale when it's in the dirt with claims of "they are almost done for"

[ScottinVA]

Agree there.

For a war that was supposed to last 2 weeks, I'd say there is no victory for the former USSR. This long protracted battle is a loss for Putin.  Now we just watch to see how bad it gets for him.

It took more than two months for the Allies to break out at Normandy… the pukes deriding the slowness of breaking through defenses the Russians had nearly a year to set up are worthless noisemakers.

[sneakypete]

I can't speak  for anyone else,but  *I* am STILL stunned that Ukraine was able to stop "The Mighty Soviet Union" in it's tracks while giving it bloody noses everywhere they went.

Even  with western munitions and weapons systems donated to Ukraine,I would have guessed it would have taken the Soviets no more than a week to take  control to  the point where the Ukes sued for peace.

[Smokin Joe]

I can't speak  for anyone else,but  *I* am STILL stunned that Ukraine was able to stop "The Mighty Soviet Union" in it's tracks while giving it bloody noses everywhere they went.

Even  with western munitions and weapons systems donated to Ukraine,I would have guessed it would have taken the Soviets no more than a week to take  control to  the point where the Ukes sued for peace.

Funny the Russians didn't consider the same thing that stopped Napoleon and Hitler--MUD!!

[240B]

[Kamaji]

It took more than two months for the Allies to break out at Normandy… the pukes deriding the slowness of breaking through defenses the Russians had nearly a year to set up are worthless noisemakers.

[sneakypete]

Funny the Russians didn't consider the same thing that stopped Napoleon and Hitler--MUD!!

@Smokin Joe

Given their weather,you  would think that mud would be something they were used to dealing with.

[Smokin Joe]

@Smokin Joe

Given their weather,you  would think that mud would be something they were used to dealing with.

Generally, a Spring thaw, Fall rain sort of problem.

But it stopped Napoleon's and Hitler's logistics trains, if not the advanced units.

Where it really bit the Russians, was their variable pressure tires were Chinese, and hadn't been flexed in routine maintenance. When they went to adjust tire pressure for traction, the tires shredded, holding up their columns, which were pretty much confined to the roads at that point...The Ukrainians took out the lead and trail elements of the columns, the others got stuck trying to go cross country, and crews bailed rather than die in the rig. (Ukrainians recovered a bunch of those and used them against the Russians.) 

[Kamaji]

Windows shattered in Moscow suburb as Russia says it thwarts latest Ukraine drone attack

By Associated Press
August 22, 2023

Russian air defense systems thwarted four nighttime Ukrainian drone attacks, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday, with the falling wreckage of one drone shattering an apartment building’s windows and damaging vehicles in Moscow’s western suburbs.

There were no reports of injuries in the latest drone attacks that Russia blamed on Kyiv, as the war approaches its 18-month milestone.

Though the drone attacks on Russian soil have occurred almost daily in recent weeks, they have caused little damage.

Even so, they have unnerved some Russians and are in line with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s pledge to take the war into the heart of Russia.

Flights at several Moscow airports were temporarily suspended Tuesday as a security precaution amid the attacks, authorities said.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/08/22/windows-are-shattered-in-a-moscow-suburb-as-russia-says-it-thwarts-latest-ukraine-drone-attack/

[sneakypete]

Generally, a Spring thaw, Fall rain sort of problem.

But it stopped Napoleon's and Hitler's logistics trains, if not the advanced units.

Where it really bit the Russians, was their variable pressure tires were Chinese, and hadn't been flexed in routine maintenance. When they went to adjust tire pressure for traction, the tires shredded, holding up their columns, which were pretty much confined to the roads at that point...The Ukrainians took out the lead and trail elements of the columns, the others got stuck trying to go cross country, and crews bailed rather than die in the rig. (Ukrainians recovered a bunch of those and used them against the Russians.)

@Smokin Joe

Thanks for the info.

Hard to believe that ANYBODY buys ANYTHING Chinese if they have a choice,isn't it?

Yeah,they saved a little money on tires while puttting their own workers into deeper poverty,but look at what it is costing them in the end.

[PeteS in CA]

It appears that Ukraine either is winning or losing this war. Ditto for Russia. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr
@RobertKennedyJr
Even the Washington Post now admits that the ballyhooed Ukraine “counteroffensive” has utterly failed. The truth Americans aren't told is that the Ukrainian army is near collapse.
...

Trust-fund enviro-lawyer sez wut?

In the real world, Ukrainian forces are advancing slowly through multi-layered defenses in a couple of sectors in Zaporizhia, threatening to cut off Russian forces in southern Kherson and Crimea, except for sea access. Elsewhere in the Ukrainian real world, Ukrainian forces are advancing in the Donetsk area and near Bakhmut. As others have posted, slow advance through multi-layered prepared defenses is not failure, and the advances intrinsically threaten to become faster. There is not a lot of land between the Zaporizhia front line and the shore of the Black Sea.

[Kamaji]

Trust-fund enviro-lawyer sez wut?

In the real world, Ukrainian forces are advancing slowly through multi-layered defenses in a couple of sectors in Zaporizhia, threatening to cut off Russian forces in southern Kherson and Crimea, except for sea access. Elsewhere in the Ukrainian real world, Ukrainian forces are advancing in the Donetsk area and near Bakhmut. As others have posted, slow advance through multi-layered prepared defenses is not failure, and the advances intrinsically threaten to become faster. There is not a lot of land between the Zaporizhia front line and the shore of the Black Sea.

[Kamaji]

Dramatic photos show moment after Ukrainian drone reportedly destroyed Russian supersonic bomber

By Snejana Farberov
August 22, 2023

A Russian supersonic bomber was destroyed in an apparent drone strike carried out by Ukraine — with dramatic photos showing the aircraft engulfed in a huge fireball in the middle of an airfield deep inside Russia.

The images posted on social media — including by Anton Gerashchenko, an aide to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs — appear to show a Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber on fire.

British military intelligence said Tuesday that the bomber was likely destroyed in a weekend drone attack targeting the Soltsy-2 air base south of St. Petersburg, which Moscow blamed on Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that a military airfield in the Novgorod region, where bombers like the Tu-22M3 are stationed, had been attacked by a Ukrainian drone and one plane had been damaged.

According to the ministry, the copter-style drone had been shot down by “small arms fire” and nobody had been injured.

*  *  *



*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/08/22/ukrainian-drone-reportedly-destroys-russian-supersonic-plane/

[PeteS in CA]

From the article linked above:

Ukraine, which rarely takes public responsibility for attacks inside Russia, has not commented on the bomber’s fiery destruction.

Kyiv has previously said Russia has used the Tu-22M3 to launch Kh-22 cruise missiles at targets across Ukraine — and it has vowed to do everything it can to annihilate Russian military assets.

Western military experts believe Russia has around 60 of the aircraft, which cost around $40 million each.

Whatever the purpose, this Tu-22M3 looks to have been substantially or fully fueled. Neither Russia nor Ukraine have been able to achieve air superiority over Ukraine, so Russia has been using longer range cruise missiles fired from some distance from Ukraine so as to reduce the risk to the plane firing the missile. So it is not impossible that the incinerated bomber had been or was about to attack Ukraine.

[berdie]

It makes me wonder what people would have thought if WWII had been reported on in this manner.

(Probably worse than Viet Nam)

[PeteS in CA]

It makes me wonder what people would have thought if WWII had been reported on in this manner.

(Probably worse than Viet Nam)

The Guadalcanal Campaign was pretty tough on land. On the seas, the Battles of Savo Island, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz Islands, and Tassafaronga didn't go very well. But by the end of January 1943 the Japanese evacuated the starving remnants of their army forces. Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa ...

[kevindavis007]

The Guadalcanal Campaign was pretty tough on land. On the seas, the Battles of Savo Island, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz Islands, and Tassafaronga didn't go very well. But by the end of January 1943 the Japanese evacuated the starving remnants of their army forces. Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa ...

I think we got spoiled by the quickness of Desert Storm and the Iraq war in 2003. Never mind it took place in a desert.

[Hoodat]

Robotyne liberated.

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1693889584399044807

[Hoodat]

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1694024249160216950

[Smokin Joe]

Robotyne liberated.

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1693889584399044807

Okay the scary part of what I am seeing is that the Russians might be able to geolocate such hotspots of cell activity and target them.

[Kamaji]

Putin fires General 'Armageddon' two months after he vanished from view and was believed to have been arrested over his knowledge of failed Wagner coup

The notoriously ruthless commander, 56, vanished from view two months ago
He was replaced as head of Russia's aerospace forces by Col-Gen Viktor Afzalov

By WILL STEWART
23 August 2023

Vladimir Putin has fired General Sergei 'Armageddon' Surovikin as head of his aerospace forces, Russian media confirmed today.

The notoriously ruthless commander, 56, vanished from view two months ago and is believed to have been placed under arrest following a coup led by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The Kremlin said that Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, 55, who dozed off during a speech by Putin about the war, has replaced Surovikin on an 'interim' basis.

Surovikin, seen as one of Russia's most capable - and cruel - generals, is assumed to have also lost his other role as deputy to armed forces chief General Valery Gerasimov - Putin's overall war commander.

The demise of Surovikin is seen as a victory for Gerasimov and defence minister Sergei Shoigu in a poisonous power struggle inside Putin's high command.

Some reports hint that Surovikin will be demoted to a new job but there are also claims that his family has not seen him since he disappeared from view at the time of the coup against the Putin regime, and that he remains under legal sanction.

*  *  *

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12435911/Putin-fires-General-Armageddon-two-months-vanished-view-believed-arrested-knowledge-failed-Wagner-coup.html

[Kamaji]

Moment Putin tank unit is destroyed in 'textbook' use of drones and artillery by Ukraine as Russian vehicles make 'rookie mistakes' by bunching together in a line

The attack unfolded in countryside close to the town of Klishchiivka in Donetsk
An entire Russian tank unit was destroyed by mines, drones and artillery fire

By DAVID AVERRE and WILL STEWART
23 August 2023

Stunning videos of a Ukrainian artillery, drone and mine attack on a column of Russian tanks have emerged from the frontlines near Bakhmut, with one retired US general praising Kyiv's troops for orchestrating what he called a 'textbook' strike.

The attack in the countryside close to the town of Klishchiivka in Donetsk began when the Russian armour trundled past the cover of a tree line and into an open field.

Suddenly, explosions rang out when one tank appeared to run over a mine - a signal that triggered a hail of artillery fire and drone strikes on the unsuspecting column.

Incredible drone footage shared by Ukraine war monitors and open-source intelligence accounts showed the utter chaos and confusion of the Russian tank operators as shells rained down on the field, scoring direct hits on several vehicles.

One tank veered off to the right and broke with the column, perhaps looking to escape, when its main gun appeared to blast one of the other stricken Russian tanks mere feet away - a testament to the panic and likely inexperience of the unit.

Ben Hodges, the former commanding general of United States Army Europe, said the Russian column presented a perfect target and made 'opening day mistakes'.

'Impressive by UAF. Textbook integration of fires, drones, and apparently mines. Russian tanks in column in combat with minimal separation… no evidence of experienced Sergeants in this Russian unit,' he quipped.

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Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12436473/Moment-Russian-tank-unit-making-opening-day-mistakes-bunch-line-destroyed-textbook-use-drones-artillery-Ukraine.html

[Kamaji]

Zelensky's spies 'masterminded string of daring drone attacks inside Russia which have seen five of Putin's jets blown up within three days'

By EIRIAN JANE PROSSER
23 August 2023

Ukrainian spies are reportedly behind a string of drone attacks inside Russia that have seen five of Putin's jets blown up within just three days. The Ministry of Defence claimed last night that the attacks in Russia have come from within its own territory, while Ukraine media insisted the attacks had been carried out by saboteurs. The Government pointed to the destruction of a Tupolev Tu-22 supersonic bomber on Saturday night, at the the Soltsy-2 air base south of St Petersburg.

The military port is some 400 miles away from Ukraine's border making it 'unlikely' that the drone attack was launched within Vlodymyr Zelenskys country. 'The Russian Defence Ministry said that a copter-style uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) was responsible for the attack,' the MoD told the Telegraph. 'If true, this adds weight to the assessment that some UAV attacks against Russian military targets are being launched from inside Russian territory. Copter UAVs are unlikely to have the range to reach Soltsky-2 from outside Russia.' The attacks on Russian airfields on Saturday and Monday destroyed two Russian bombers and damaged two other aircraft, according to Ukrainska Pravda, as the war approaches its 18-month milestone.

Ukrainian media also attributed Monday's strike against the Shaikovka air base in the south-western Kaluga region which is about 180 miles north-east of the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov told the Ukrainian LIGA.net news outlet on Monday that at least one Russian warplane was damaged in the attack on Shaikovka. He said it was carried out by people who worked in close coordination with Ukrainian military intelligence but gave no further details. The Russian Defence Ministry said the attack on Soltsy damaged one aircraft. It did not comment on the reported attack on Shaikovka, but Russian media did. Ukraine has been seeking to take the war into the heart of Russia since earlier this year. It has increasingly targeted Moscow's military assets behind the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine and at the same time has launched drones against Moscow, most recently early on Tuesday.

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Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/galleries/article-12436153/Zelenskys-spies-masterminded-string-daring-drone-attacks-inside-Russia-seen-five-Putins-jets-blown-three-days.html