Ukraine 5

[240B]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuCTHpuqWaM

[PeteS in CA]

The guns of T-72 and T-62 tanks can be elevated to 14 and 16 degrees, respectively (German Leopard 2 and US M1 tanks' guns can elevate to 20 degrees). The relatively flat ballistic curve means that a very slight elevation error or shell performance variation could result in shells landing inaccurately if the target is not something fairly tall. Having to operate from concealment make use less flexible.

[FtrPilot]

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1878878533222805736

[FtrPilot]

https://twitter.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1878845249017303042


800,000 tons of jet fuel!

Using unverified information, 800,000 tons of jet fuel could refuel over 13,000 Tu-22 Backfire aircraft sorties.

[FtrPilot]

https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1878900520511001066

[PeteS in CA]

Bryansk Oblast borders Ukraine. Why, almost 3 years into the war, Putin hasn't realized that moving munitions production farther from Ukraine (i.e. out range of all but lightly armed drones) would be a good idea eludes me. Not that I mind orcs' munitions exploding in their own lands.

[SZonian]

https://twitter.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1878845249017303042


800,000 tons of jet fuel!

Using unverified information, 800,000 tons of jet fuel could refuel over 13,000 Tu-22 Backfire aircraft sorties.

That's a lot of "climate change" impact. Where's Greta and I wonder if Russia can afford the carbon offsets?   

[Timber Rattler]

Ooops.

North Korean Troops Rolled A Rare Air-Defense Vehicle Into Kursk. Confused Russians Blew It Up.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2025/01/13/north-korean-troops-rolled-a-rare-air-defense-vehicle-into-kursk-confused-russians-blew-it-up/

When North Korea’s 12,000-strong 11th Army Corps deployed to Kursk Oblast in western Russia to help Russian troops battle an invasion by a powerful Ukrainian force, they brought along anti-tank vehicles, howitzers and rocket launchers.

They also brought along a rarely seen air-defense vehicle combining a large wheeled chassis with the radar and missile launchers from a Russian-designed Tor surface-to-air missile vehicle, which normally rides on tracks.

The customized North Korean Tor is so unusual that the Russians themselves apparently didn’t recognize it as belonging to their side. On or just before Friday, Russian drones spotted and struck the North Korean vehicle, destroying it.

Celebrating what they clearly believed was a devastating strike on Ukrainian air defenses along the 250-square-mile Ukrainian-held salient in Kursk, Russian forces circulated a video montage of their attack on the North Korean vehicle.

It took a few days for outside observers to figure out exactly what the Russians blew up in Kursk last week. “It seems that what was originally claimed to be a ‘Western-made radar system,’ is very likely to be a North Korean Tor SAM version on a cab chassis,” Polish analyst WarVehicleTracker noted.

https://twitter.com/WarVehicle/status/1878521277440303398/photo/1

EXCERPT

[PeteS in CA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MW7KEspY_g

Apparently it's a modular hybrid combining sections from two different Russian SAM systems plus a Chinese radar. Besides being visually unfamiliar, the electronic signature of its radar may have been unfamiliar to any Russian analyzing its signal.

At a more general level, the Russians seem not to have told the NoKos much about the operational environment, leading to the NoKos making high-cost - men and equipment - mistakes.

[Hoodat]

Russia's energy giant Gazprom plans major layoffs as Europe market shrinks, media reports

Tim Zadorozhnyy  |  January 13, 2025 at 8:13 AM CST

The Russian energy giant Gazprom is preparing to lay off 1,600 employees from its central office as it faces significant financial losses and dwindling market presence in Europe, Russia's local 47News media outlet reported on Jan. 13.

The news comes after Ukraine halted the transit of Russian gas to other European countries, ending an arrangement dating back to Soviet times.

Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee Elena Ilyukhina reportedly sent a letter to Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, outlining the need for cost optimization due to "challenges facing the Gazprom Group."

The letter suggests that 50 billion rubles ($480 million) are spent annually on salaries. To address this issue, it proposes reducing the central office workforce from 4,100 to 2,500 employees.

Sergey Kupriyanov, deputy chairman of Gazprom's Board of Directors, confirmed the letter's authenticity to Forbes Russia but declined to provide further comments.

Gazprom has suffered massive losses following the collapse of its European gas market, with exports to Europe dropping by more than 80% since 2021. Shares of the company fell to their lowest level since January 2009, trading at 106.1 rubles ($1.01) on Dec. 17  .  .  .

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russias-energy-giant-gazprom-plans-141334839.html

[Hoodat]

Here was Alexei Miller three years ago:


Rally around Putin to save Russia, Gazprom chief Miller says

Reuters  |  March 17, 2022  |  10:08 AM EDT

The head of Gazprom called on the gas giant's 500,000 employees to rally around Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to preserve Russia as a great power in the face of foreign attempts to break her, according to a letter published on Thursday.

After the West slapped sanctions on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, Putin said that the United States had declared economic war and was plotting to rip apart Russia in an attempt to enforce its global hegemony.

Alexei Miller, the head of Gazprom, said there were many examples of failed attempts to break Russia so people should be alert to destructive attempts to sow discord that might split the Russian people.

"Today, like never before, it is important to remain committed to the common cause, to rally around our president," said Miller, a close ally of Putin since they worked together in the early 1990s in the mayor's office in St Petersburg.

Rallying around Putin, Miller said, would "preserve Russia as we know it and love it" and keep the motherland as a "great power."  .  .  .

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/rally-around-putin-save-russia-gazprom-chief-miller-says-2022-03-17/


Today, Miller is telling these same employees that they are now out of a job due to the asinine policies of the person they were told to support.

[PeteS in CA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgVI6cJpCQo

Large-scale drone attack against several oil and chemicals facilities in a half dozen cities in Russia. When Stalin mass-moved Soviet industry eastward away from German armies, Kazan was one destination city.

[PeteS in CA]

More about the ATACMS strike against a chemical plant near Bryansk:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CXNF2FlIQw

[DefiantMassRINO]

This is Putin's war of choice.

He made the same mistake many aggressors make - he planned on a short, quick war.  The Ukrainians didn't cooperate.

[FtrPilot]

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1879150666322698515





ruzzian mil bloggers are not happy.

[FtrPilot]

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1879120896377692334

Saratov on Google Maps

[FtrPilot]

https://twitter.com/artranslated/status/1879092500532453709

[FtrPilot]

https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1879066386645102966






The Orgsyntez chemicals plant in Kazan

[FtrPilot]

Large-scale drone attack against several oil and chemicals facilities in a half dozen cities in Russia. When Stalin mass-moved Soviet industry eastward away from German armies, Kazan was one destination city.

"A picture is worth 1000 words."

[PeteS in CA]

The big concern for the Russian and US air forces in the late 1940s into the 1960s was nuclear-armed intercontinental bombers. The response (painting with a broad brush) was interceptors that climbed fast, flew fast, could be directed from the ground toward the target(s) and had radar capable of picking up targets and directing missiles once close enough. Though the USAF continued operating the F-106 into the early 1980s (and ANG into the late 1980s), the USAF took the multi-role fighter direction starting (?) with the F-4 (the plane being suitable for USN purposes probably helped) and kept going with the next couple of generations.

Russia stayed longer with their interceptor-GCI strategy, coming to multi-role fighters a bit later (the fall of the USSR probably caused some delay). I think Russian SAM systems are still better suited for bomber interception, somewhat less so for agile multi-role fighter adversaries, and do poorly against smaller, lower-flying, and swarmed attack drones. Ukraine making SAM systems a favorite target has probably caused numeric attrition and poorly protected corridors for attacks.

I sure hope the USAF and Army are paying attention and strategizing!

[Timber Rattler]

North Korea's suicide soldiers pose new challenge for Ukraine in war with Russia

https://www.reuters.com/world/north-koreas-suicide-soldiers-pose-new-challenge-ukraine-war-with-russia-2025-01-14/

After a battle in Russia's snowy western region of Kursk this week, Ukrainian special forces scoured the bodies of more than a dozen slain North Korean enemy soldiers.

Among them, they found one still alive. But as they approached, he detonated a grenade, blowing himself up, according to a description of the fighting posted on social media by Ukraine's Special Operations Forces on Monday.

The forces said their soldiers escaped the blast uninjured. Reuters could not verify the incident.

But it is among mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine.

"Self-detonation and suicides: that's the reality about North Korea," said Kim, a 32-year-old former North Korean soldier who defected to the South in 2022, requesting he only be identified by his surname due to fears of reprisals against his family left in the North.

"These soldiers who left home for a fight there have been brainwashed and are truly ready to sacrifice themselves for Kim Jong Un," he added, referring to the reclusive North Korean leader.

EXCERPT

Lords know what the Russians have told them too about what would happen if captured by the Ukrainians.

[SZonian]

North Korea's suicide soldiers pose new challenge for Ukraine in war with Russia

https://www.reuters.com/world/north-koreas-suicide-soldiers-pose-new-challenge-ukraine-war-with-russia-2025-01-14/

EXCERPT

Lords know what the Russians have told them too about what would happen if captured by the Ukrainians.

Eerily similar to the Bushido code as implemented by the Japanese in WWII that capture/surrender was/is a dishonor.

[Hoodat]

DAY 1056 - RUSSIA'S WAR ON UKRAINE

from r/UkraineWarVideoReport

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1i1fwa6/debris_situation_update_ukrainian_drone_hit/

[Hoodat]

https://twitter.com/StratcomCentre/status/1879198318418665933

[Hoodat]

I love how they post the coordinates of their targets.

https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1879149513190871163