Русский корабль - иди нахуй

[B00M 6235]

4 minutes ago, KYHorn said:

We knew it was happening but interesting to hear directly how it affected the conscripts' thinking 

 

Sky News: Russian conscripts surrendered to the AFU to avoid being killed by Chechens

They are soldiers from the Russian 488th Motorized Rifle Regiment, which is made up mostly of conscripts.

As they fled, they were shot at by Chechen forces on the Russian side, who were "there to prevent them from running away".

"They went the other way, back to the enemy and surrendered. So a whole company of young conscripts, all 18-, 19-year-old boys, surrendered," says security and defense analyst Michael Clarke.

 

Glide bombs going the other way is nice

 

At this point, Russia’s best bet to slow Ukraine’s advance may be to clog them up with low value surrendering troops, knowing Ukraine will trade them back in the future for their own people that have been starved and tortured in Russia

 

[MissingInAction 24695]

I anxiously await F-16 freedom boner war porn.

[BamaATL 16592]

2 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I anxiously await F-16 freedom boner war porn.

I saw footage yesterday of an F-16 intercepting a Shaheed with it's gun, but it was quickly pulled down, in fact so quickly it was deleted before I could even post it.  I'm not surprised they are keeping a pretty good lid on their usage.  

[KYHorn 16751]

 

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/17/kursk-ukraine-russia-energy-ceasefire/ 

Spoiler

 Exclusive

Ukraine’s offensive derails secret efforts for partial cease-fire with Russia, officials say
The warring countries were set to hold indirect talks in Qatar on an agreement to halt strikes on energy and power infrastructure, according to officials.

9 min

A thermal power plant is damaged in a Russian airstrike in Ukraine on April 2. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post)
By Isabelle Khurshudyan, Siobhán O'Grady, John Hudson and Catherine Belton
August 17, 2024 at 3:00 a.m. EDT
KYIV — Ukraine and Russia were set to send delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a landmark agreement halting strikes on energy and power infrastructure on both sides, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said, in what would have amounted to a partial cease-fire and offered a reprieve for both countries.

But the indirect talks, with the Qataris serving as mediators and meeting separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last week, according to the officials. The possible agreement and planned summit have not been previously reported.

For more than a year, Russia has pounded Ukraine’s power grid with a barrage of cruise missiles and drone strikes, causing irreparable damage to power stations and rolling blackouts across the country. Meanwhile, Ukraine has struck Russia’s oil facilities with long-range drone attacks that have set ablaze refineries, depots and reservoirs, reducing Moscow’s oil refining by an estimated 15 percent and raising gas prices around the world.

Story continues below advertisement

Some involved in the negotiations hoped they could lead to a more comprehensive agreement to end the war, according to the officials who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.

The willingness to engage in the talks signaled something of a shift for both countries, at least for a limited cease-fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv would consider a full cease-fire only if Russia first withdrew all of its troops from Ukrainian land, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine first cede four Ukrainian regions — including some territory that Russian forces aren’t occupying — that the Kremlin has declared as part of Russia.

Ukrainian and Russian officials haven’t met face to face for talks since the first months of the war, when delegations from both sides convened for secret talks in Istanbul. Those negotiations eventually fell apart. Later, the two sides agreed to a grain deal that led to Russia temporarily lifting a naval blockade, allowing Ukraine to transfer grain through the Black Sea. That, too, collapsed months later when Russia pulled out of the deal. Other attempts to establish humanitarian corridors have largely failed.

Story continues below advertisement
A diplomat briefed on the talks said Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials after Ukraine’s incursion into western Russia. Moscow’s delegation described it as “an escalation,” the diplomat said, adding that Kyiv did not warn Doha about its cross-border offensive.

Russia “didn’t call off the talks, they said give us time,” the diplomat said. Though Ukraine wanted to send its delegation to Doha anyway, the person said, Qatar declined because it did not see a one-sided meeting as beneficial. The small Arab country has positioned itself as a powerful mediator in recent years and has hosted ongoing talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

In response to questions from The Washington Post, the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement that the summit in Doha was postponed “due to the situation in the Middle East,” but it would take place in a video conference format Aug. 22, after which Kyiv would consult with its partners about implementing what was discussed.

The Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment for this story. The Biden administration has long said the timing and terms of a potential cease-fire agreement with Russia are for Ukraine alone to decide.

A transformer of an electrical substation burns after shelling from Ukraine in the town of Shebekino in the Belgorod region of Russia in late 2022. (Taisia Liskovets/Sputnik/AP)

The diplomat briefed on the talks said Kyiv and Moscow had both signaled their readiness to accept the arrangement in the lead-up to the summit. But senior officials in Kyiv had mixed expectations about whether the negotiations could succeed, with some putting the odds at 20 percent and others anticipating even worse prospects, according to two people familiar with the talks, even if the Kursk assault had not happened. But the planned talks and potential agreement — now on hold — raise the stakes for Zelensky’s gamble.

Story continues below advertisement

One of the reasons Ukrainian officials doubted Russia’s sincerity is its extensive bombing campaign of Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent weeks. More bombardment could leave civilians without power for hours each day during the frigid winter months.

“We have one chance to get through this winter, and that’s if the Russians won’t launch any new attacks on the grid,” an Ukrainian official who was briefed on the talks said.

Kyiv’s move to push into Russia, which has occupied roughly 20 percent of Ukraine, was intended in part to give Ukraine more leverage for any future negotiations, Ukrainian and Western officials have said.

Military analysts have expressed skepticism that Ukrainian forces can maintain control of the Russian territory. Moscow has also continued to make gains in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region and has not diverted troops from there to defend the new Ukrainian assault.

Story continues below advertisement

But while Kyiv might have improved its future negotiating position with the land grab, the likelihood of imminent peace talks appears diminished. Putin publicly vowed this week not to soften his position on negotiations because of the assault on Russian territory.

The diplomat familiar with the talks said that Qatar has been discussing the arrangement for an energy strike moratorium with Kyiv and Moscow for the past two months. The official said the two sides agreed to a summit in Doha with just minor details left to be worked out.

“After Kursk, the Russians balked,” another person familiar with the talks said.

A Russian academic with close ties to senior Russian diplomats signaled that Putin would not be in the mood to make a deal after the Kursk offensive.

Story continues below advertisement

“You know our Russian leadership usually does not make any compromises under pressure,” the person said.

The academic added that Russia might be more willing to consider an energy infrastructure deal as a way to lure Kyiv to broader cease-fire talks. Otherwise, he said, Moscow could be less motivated since it believed it could inflict more damage on Ukrainian energy infrastructure than Kyiv was able to on Russian oil refineries.

Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s power grid have been a brutally effective tactic. Daily life for Ukrainians who live far from the front line has been disrupted by blackouts that can last hours. The outages have also severely hurt an economy already crippled by war. Some people who have moved abroad cite the power instability as a chief reason.

Ukrainian officials have expressed concern about how the country will survive the winter if Russia’s bombardment continues. Because of Russian airstrikes, Ukraine has lost around nine gigawatts of the 18 gigawatts needed for peak consumption this winter — far too much to recover in a short period of time. Officials say electricity could be limited to five to seven hours a day — or less — during the frigid months.

Story continues below advertisement

“Everything has to be weighed — our potential and the possible damage to our economy versus how much more damage could we cause them and their economy,” the Ukrainian official briefed on the planned Qatar summit said. “But energy is definitely critical for us. We sometimes forget about the economy here, but we’re facing free fall if there’s no light and heat in the winter.”

The Ukrainians preferred that a potential deal to halt energy infrastructure strikes could be reached in a similar way to the grain deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022 that led to Russia temporarily lifting a naval blockade, allowing Ukraine to transfer grain through the Black Sea.

Moscow then pulled out of the agreement last year, claiming only 3 percent of the grain went to the neediest nations despite U.N. figures showing the majority of the exports from the deal went to developing countries. However, Kyiv has continued to successfully move cargo out of its Black Sea ports with Ankara’s support.

Story continues below advertisement

A second Ukrainian official familiar with the potential agreement said that for an energy strike ban, “we talk with partners to be sure that the deal will work, not one-to-one with Russia, as it was.”

Kyiv has lobbied countries to support its 10-point peace plan, which includes a full Russian withdrawal. At a two-day summit in Switzerland in June that was organized by Ukraine, more than 80 countries’ delegations signed onto a joint statement that promoted prisoner exchanges, nuclear safety and food security.

A woman walks with a dog during a partial blackout in Kyiv on June 5. (Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images)

Progress on other issues, such as energy security, was discussed in smaller working groups. Shortly after the summit, Qatar proposed the idea of an energy cease-fire and started discussing a potential plan with both sides, officials said. Ukrainian officials were receptive, they said, because they considered the talks as falling under Kyiv’s peace plan initiative and intended to involve partners in the energy security working group.

Story continues below advertisement

Ukraine did not invite a Russian delegation to the peace summit in June, but Zelensky has said Moscow will be invited to the next one, which expected to be held this fall. Some Ukrainian officials and Western diplomats have viewed that step as a sign that Kyiv is now more open to considering negotiations with Russia.

Other Ukrainian officials have quickly pointed out that Ukraine has always been receptive to talks but demand that those discussions respect Ukraine’s full territorial integrity.

Some Russian analysts said Ukraine’s daring seizure of Russian territory in the Kursk region could hand Ukraine a powerful bargaining chip in any future negotiations with Russia, if the Ukrainian troops succeed in building fortifications to defend their position before a full-scale Russian counterattack.

“Putin has said many times that any peace agreement should take into account the facts on the ground and that Russia will not leave the territory it has taken,” said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political analyst.

Ukraine is trying “to break this formula and gain Russian territory to exchange,” he said.

 

[The Dog 43660]

 

[The Dog 43660]

 

[Sawbonz 27143]

51 minutes ago, BamaATL said:

The subtitle of every Russian history book reads, "and then it got worse."  I wouldn't count on the next guy being any better, if history tells us anything with them, there is a greater chance he is more of a psycho. 

Putin is a dictator with consolidated power. Whomever follows him can be as crazy as they want. They are not going to have the infrastructure in place to ensure they stay in power, let alone continue an invasion

 

That person may well be worse than Putin in terms of the west’s interests. I don’t think Ukraine gives a fuck about that right now

[B00M 6235]

39 minutes ago, KYHorn said:

 

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/17/kursk-ukraine-russia-energy-ceasefire/ 

  Reveal hidden contents

 Exclusive

Ukraine’s offensive derails secret efforts for partial cease-fire with Russia, officials say
The warring countries were set to hold indirect talks in Qatar on an agreement to halt strikes on energy and power infrastructure, according to officials.

9 min

A thermal power plant is damaged in a Russian airstrike in Ukraine on April 2. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post)
By Isabelle Khurshudyan, Siobhán O'Grady, John Hudson and Catherine Belton
August 17, 2024 at 3:00 a.m. EDT
KYIV — Ukraine and Russia were set to send delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a landmark agreement halting strikes on energy and power infrastructure on both sides, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said, in what would have amounted to a partial cease-fire and offered a reprieve for both countries.

But the indirect talks, with the Qataris serving as mediators and meeting separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last week, according to the officials. The possible agreement and planned summit have not been previously reported.

For more than a year, Russia has pounded Ukraine’s power grid with a barrage of cruise missiles and drone strikes, causing irreparable damage to power stations and rolling blackouts across the country. Meanwhile, Ukraine has struck Russia’s oil facilities with long-range drone attacks that have set ablaze refineries, depots and reservoirs, reducing Moscow’s oil refining by an estimated 15 percent and raising gas prices around the world.

Story continues below advertisement

Some involved in the negotiations hoped they could lead to a more comprehensive agreement to end the war, according to the officials who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.

The willingness to engage in the talks signaled something of a shift for both countries, at least for a limited cease-fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv would consider a full cease-fire only if Russia first withdrew all of its troops from Ukrainian land, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine first cede four Ukrainian regions — including some territory that Russian forces aren’t occupying — that the Kremlin has declared as part of Russia.

Ukrainian and Russian officials haven’t met face to face for talks since the first months of the war, when delegations from both sides convened for secret talks in Istanbul. Those negotiations eventually fell apart. Later, the two sides agreed to a grain deal that led to Russia temporarily lifting a naval blockade, allowing Ukraine to transfer grain through the Black Sea. That, too, collapsed months later when Russia pulled out of the deal. Other attempts to establish humanitarian corridors have largely failed.

Story continues below advertisement
A diplomat briefed on the talks said Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials after Ukraine’s incursion into western Russia. Moscow’s delegation described it as “an escalation,” the diplomat said, adding that Kyiv did not warn Doha about its cross-border offensive.

Russia “didn’t call off the talks, they said give us time,” the diplomat said. Though Ukraine wanted to send its delegation to Doha anyway, the person said, Qatar declined because it did not see a one-sided meeting as beneficial. The small Arab country has positioned itself as a powerful mediator in recent years and has hosted ongoing talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

In response to questions from The Washington Post, the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement that the summit in Doha was postponed “due to the situation in the Middle East,” but it would take place in a video conference format Aug. 22, after which Kyiv would consult with its partners about implementing what was discussed.

The Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment for this story. The Biden administration has long said the timing and terms of a potential cease-fire agreement with Russia are for Ukraine alone to decide.

A transformer of an electrical substation burns after shelling from Ukraine in the town of Shebekino in the Belgorod region of Russia in late 2022. (Taisia Liskovets/Sputnik/AP)

The diplomat briefed on the talks said Kyiv and Moscow had both signaled their readiness to accept the arrangement in the lead-up to the summit. But senior officials in Kyiv had mixed expectations about whether the negotiations could succeed, with some putting the odds at 20 percent and others anticipating even worse prospects, according to two people familiar with the talks, even if the Kursk assault had not happened. But the planned talks and potential agreement — now on hold — raise the stakes for Zelensky’s gamble.

Story continues below advertisement

One of the reasons Ukrainian officials doubted Russia’s sincerity is its extensive bombing campaign of Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent weeks. More bombardment could leave civilians without power for hours each day during the frigid winter months.

“We have one chance to get through this winter, and that’s if the Russians won’t launch any new attacks on the grid,” an Ukrainian official who was briefed on the talks said.

Kyiv’s move to push into Russia, which has occupied roughly 20 percent of Ukraine, was intended in part to give Ukraine more leverage for any future negotiations, Ukrainian and Western officials have said.

Military analysts have expressed skepticism that Ukrainian forces can maintain control of the Russian territory. Moscow has also continued to make gains in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region and has not diverted troops from there to defend the new Ukrainian assault.

Story continues below advertisement

But while Kyiv might have improved its future negotiating position with the land grab, the likelihood of imminent peace talks appears diminished. Putin publicly vowed this week not to soften his position on negotiations because of the assault on Russian territory.

The diplomat familiar with the talks said that Qatar has been discussing the arrangement for an energy strike moratorium with Kyiv and Moscow for the past two months. The official said the two sides agreed to a summit in Doha with just minor details left to be worked out.

“After Kursk, the Russians balked,” another person familiar with the talks said.

A Russian academic with close ties to senior Russian diplomats signaled that Putin would not be in the mood to make a deal after the Kursk offensive.

Story continues below advertisement

“You know our Russian leadership usually does not make any compromises under pressure,” the person said.

The academic added that Russia might be more willing to consider an energy infrastructure deal as a way to lure Kyiv to broader cease-fire talks. Otherwise, he said, Moscow could be less motivated since it believed it could inflict more damage on Ukrainian energy infrastructure than Kyiv was able to on Russian oil refineries.

Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s power grid have been a brutally effective tactic. Daily life for Ukrainians who live far from the front line has been disrupted by blackouts that can last hours. The outages have also severely hurt an economy already crippled by war. Some people who have moved abroad cite the power instability as a chief reason.

Ukrainian officials have expressed concern about how the country will survive the winter if Russia’s bombardment continues. Because of Russian airstrikes, Ukraine has lost around nine gigawatts of the 18 gigawatts needed for peak consumption this winter — far too much to recover in a short period of time. Officials say electricity could be limited to five to seven hours a day — or less — during the frigid months.

Story continues below advertisement

“Everything has to be weighed — our potential and the possible damage to our economy versus how much more damage could we cause them and their economy,” the Ukrainian official briefed on the planned Qatar summit said. “But energy is definitely critical for us. We sometimes forget about the economy here, but we’re facing free fall if there’s no light and heat in the winter.”

The Ukrainians preferred that a potential deal to halt energy infrastructure strikes could be reached in a similar way to the grain deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022 that led to Russia temporarily lifting a naval blockade, allowing Ukraine to transfer grain through the Black Sea.

Moscow then pulled out of the agreement last year, claiming only 3 percent of the grain went to the neediest nations despite U.N. figures showing the majority of the exports from the deal went to developing countries. However, Kyiv has continued to successfully move cargo out of its Black Sea ports with Ankara’s support.

Story continues below advertisement

A second Ukrainian official familiar with the potential agreement said that for an energy strike ban, “we talk with partners to be sure that the deal will work, not one-to-one with Russia, as it was.”

Kyiv has lobbied countries to support its 10-point peace plan, which includes a full Russian withdrawal. At a two-day summit in Switzerland in June that was organized by Ukraine, more than 80 countries’ delegations signed onto a joint statement that promoted prisoner exchanges, nuclear safety and food security.

A woman walks with a dog during a partial blackout in Kyiv on June 5. (Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images)

Progress on other issues, such as energy security, was discussed in smaller working groups. Shortly after the summit, Qatar proposed the idea of an energy cease-fire and started discussing a potential plan with both sides, officials said. Ukrainian officials were receptive, they said, because they considered the talks as falling under Kyiv’s peace plan initiative and intended to involve partners in the energy security working group.

Story continues below advertisement

Ukraine did not invite a Russian delegation to the peace summit in June, but Zelensky has said Moscow will be invited to the next one, which expected to be held this fall. Some Ukrainian officials and Western diplomats have viewed that step as a sign that Kyiv is now more open to considering negotiations with Russia.

Other Ukrainian officials have quickly pointed out that Ukraine has always been receptive to talks but demand that those discussions respect Ukraine’s full territorial integrity.

Some Russian analysts said Ukraine’s daring seizure of Russian territory in the Kursk region could hand Ukraine a powerful bargaining chip in any future negotiations with Russia, if the Ukrainian troops succeed in building fortifications to defend their position before a full-scale Russian counterattack.

“Putin has said many times that any peace agreement should take into account the facts on the ground and that Russia will not leave the territory it has taken,” said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political analyst.

Ukraine is trying “to break this formula and gain Russian territory to exchange,” he said.

 

Secret cease fire talks to stop targeting energy infrastructure … as if Russia would ever honor it anyway … Ukraine accurately sensed weakness and went for the nuts. Got DAMN I love Ukrainians!

[The Dog 43660]

 

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The Ukrainian offensive in Kursk has been ongoing for 12 days and it is time to make an intermediate assessment on all levels. Spoiler: it is an Ukrainian success story. Please indulge me. When in the morning hours of August 6, 2024, the first news hit that Russian border posts in Kursk were struck, not many could imagine the scale of what was going on. Many had the small cross border raids in mind from last year when the Free Russian Legion was entering Belgorod and harassing a few border villages, but obviously that was not the case here. In order to summarize it properly, I will try to shed light on this on all relevant levels, tactical, operational, strategic and political. Tactical Level On the tactical level Russians were completely unprepared of what was coming. The border posts such as in Oleshnya were quickly overrun and the Russian conscripts in their posts surrendered fast. The initial response units of the Russian army were all but wiped out and even an Kamov Ka-52 chopper, which tried to interfere, was shot out of the sky. The Ukrainian strikes were coordinated on an extremely professional level, using artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, drones and other aerial vehicles. Communication and tactics showed that Ukrainian forces mastered what is commonly known as maneuver warfare. At no stage in this war Russians ever employed this kind of professionalism. In addition, the discipline among Ukrainian soldiers not to use mobile phones and disclose communication as well as gains in territory left Russians (and the OSINT community) relatively in the dark. The Ukrainian silence in preparation and execution of this operation might be the most astounding factor in this campaign. It almost flawlessly worked. Operational Level Aside from the tactical cleverness Ukrainians showed to us so far, it was and still is also the way they moved into the Kursk region. While Russian forces are infamous in trying to reach and overcome heavily fortified cities, towns and villages, Ukrainians rather bypassed larger settlements, cut and intercept the rear and encircle Russian troop concentrations, and by doing so staying even more in the shadows. This probably enabled the capture of large numbers of Russian POWs who found themselves quickly behind lines. Estimations go as high as 2,000 Russian soldiers being captured, an number so high that it might even be a strain for Ukrainian logistics. But it is obvious that this alone has already made the operation worthwhile. Russians, however, employed the same mistakes they made when starting the full-scale war back in February 2022. Some large columns which were mustered, were not only detected by Ukrainian forces, but as with the instance in Rylsk completely destroyed. This single event made an already difficult situation for Russian forces worse. It might turn out that this single event will be responsible for vast losses in territory, starting with Korenevo, which at this very hours is getting pounded and encircled. Overall, the whole Russian operational situation shows that they are only trying to stem the tide, without any short-term hope of dislodging the enemy. The Ukrainian Blitz has been an operational success, despite Russian resistance in some areas. Strategic Level Any tactical and operational planning and especially execution should follow an overarching strategy. We saw this when Ukrainian forces were successfully defeating Russian forces in Kyiv and the North in March 2022, and even more so when vast areas in Kharkiv and Kherson regions were liberated. Russians, on the other hand, lack a strategy. Other than trying to atrit the enemy, there is nothing what really resemblance a strategy, and this one is a questionable one for sure. The huge casualties in Bakhmut, Vuhledar and Avdiivka, where hundreds of thousands of Russians were destroyed, either by KIA or permanently WIA, didn't yield any strategic gain, neither in terms of territory nor in trying to disable the Ukrainian army altogether. It is obvious that the Kremlin was trying to perpetuate the illusion that Russia can do this forever. And this has been the Russian strategy ever since, combined with projecting "red lines" which aim to stop or at least slow down Western aid for Ukraine, in hope to force Ukrainians into a diktat peace which Putin could sell to his subjects. Ukraine could never allow itself to do the same for both, military and also humanitarian reasons. Since sending out countless of meat waves was never a lasting solution for Ukraine, the counter offensive in the South in 2023 got stuck, despite some notable successes in the Russian rear, especially in Crimea. It was clear that Russia and its lesser minions in the West would exploit this, but it was preferable to preserve the strength, rather than losing men for some fields in the south. A different approach was needed. The choice to attack Russian lands in Kursk, which were not well defended and even less expected by Moscow, made it an ideal target. And the successes speak for themselves. Ukrainian forces have achieved in 7 days more territorial gains than Russians in one year of attrition warfare in Donetsk. The best part is that this was achieved with minimal own casualties. Yes, there were some losses, especially with MRAPs and Russians will celebrate every one of them, but considering that Ukraine has thousands of them its armory and the Wests tens of thousands ready, it is not a serious concern. When playing the long game, it is imperative to use its forces and reserves in a most efficient way, targeting weak spots and force the enemy to lose more troops and driving them beyond capacity. In fact, Russia was wasting huge amounts of human material and hardware against what was a Maginot line in Donbas. Anyone who studied the history of wars knows that fortresses and defense lines are meant to be attacked, which should be actually a no-brainer. The trick is to bypass them and in doing so make them useless. Only when it is unavoidable you attack them. When German forces were bypassing the Maginot line in 1940, huge amount of French military investments evaporated. Later in the Africa campaign both, German and British forces understood that supplies and logistics outweigh any territorial gains. If you can use the vastness of the territory to weaken your enemy, then it would be foolish not to do so. You should assume that Russians understand at least this from their own history, but it is almost comical that in Ukraine Putin and his entourage completely disregarded that. You might assume that his resulted from their hubris and I'm sure that their arrogance did their part. However, when seeing how atrociously bad Russians operate in combined arms warfare, it is explainable why they chose this bad option, because they are simply not capable of doing it differently. Summarizing, you can only conclude that the Ukraine strategy is working. The breakthrough in Donetsk has been prevented. The Russian gains are small, even dwarfed by the Ukrainian gains in Kursk, which are still ongoing, and the Russian gains came for a horrifically high price. To call this pyrrhic, does not do the term justice, because even pyrrhic victory bears the term "victory". Russians are nowhere near to achieve even that and Ukrainian forces might cause far more damage in Kursk, if Russians are not relocating more troops to this sector, effectively dashing what they intended in Donbas. Political Level The political implications might be even the most disastrous for the Russian war effort. Having Ukrainians firmly entrenched in Russian lands bodes not well from a military point of view in itself, but the picture it projects is far worse than anything what Russians have experienced so far. Putin was so devoted to project that Russia is "strong again". He and his propaganda channels are going to great length to portray the 1990s and democracy as rule of weakness and in contrast him and his dictatorship the rule of strength and stability. Having this defeat in Kursk under his watch where Russia had to concede to a foreign force territory and allow them take permanent hold of Russian lands, is a situation which has never occured since 1945, not even during the 1990s. Ukrainian conquest of Russian territories are the latest signs, how weak Russia in fact is. When reflecting that the whole Russian economy has been relegated to sustain this war, it makes this embarrassment even more embarrassing. Russia is devoted to this war and cannot even hold the own borders, basically adding insult to injury. That will stick and not even Russia's propaganda channels are capable of fending this off. Putin's meek response speaks louder than anything else. The emperor's new clothes are exposed once again and he is more afraid than ever. Russia is vulnerable and it cannot be hidden anymore. Ukrainian forces firmly control the border areas in Kursk and god knows how many reserves are waiting for this or even another incursion. Even when it would be possible to stop the Ukrainian advance, it is unlikely to dislodge them before the end of this year, if ever during this war. This is extremely important to point out. Putin was already preparing to arm twist Ukraine into a diktat ceasefire. All what he needed is a steady even when slow advance in Donbas and Western governments in buying that he is going to sacrifice whatever is necessary. It was absolutely imperative for him to deny Ukrainians any kind of territorial successes. This was more important to him than his horrific losses, because he thought that he will reach a suitable point before his reserves are spent. This was emphasized when he and his lesser minions were always pointing out that Russia is advancing, ignoring that those advances are minuscule. With Ukrainians in Kursk, on Russian lands, this has shifted, dramatically. He cannot even think of ceasefire as long as Ukrainians control even an inch of Russia, but his problems are that he will need another hugely costly campaign, similar to what is going on since 2 years in Donbas, without even a sight of end. Russia already squandered huge amounts of human material and hardware and we all know that his reserves are burning down. Depending on analysts, the Soviet reserves are spent by 2026-2027. Russia cannot sustain this war forever, and Putin cannot allow Ukrainians on Russian lands. The planners in Kyiv skillfully recognized this and maneuvered Putin into a corner where his demise is expedited. They also exposed Russian weaknesses and presented their Western backers that Ukraine can win this war, if the weapons and ammunition are guaranteed. The West should take note of this success and draw the right conclusions. There are no Russian red lines, only bluffs. German-made tanks are in Russia, destroying Russians and we are all here. The bluff is called. This war can be ended quickly, either militarily or with a decisive Russian defeat, which will cause a political change inside Russia. The Kursk operation has laid this completely open and it is time to do some serious action in the West, in order to break Putin-Russia's neck once and for all.

[MillerEP 30307]

https://www.threads.net/@nickmelnick.osint/post/C-x-yGkIEP6?xmt=AQGz03qgQIqx2uG4GBDXpNhPvZqg3gAezOYlbkGT9PHYhg

🔥Three Ukrainian saboteurs deep behind enemy lines in the Kursk region ambushed two Russian vehicles.
Such operations always carry enormous risk since calling for evacuation or reinforcements is simply impossible.

 

https://www.threads.net/@gonzo_ukraine/post/C-xtZIRKi7t?xmt=AQGz03qgQIqx2uG4GBDXpNhPvZqg3gAezOYlbkGT9PHYhg

ago
🇺🇦 A Ukrainian unit successfully infiltrated Hlushkovo in Russia's Kursk Oblast, executing a highly strategic mission. They managed to clandestinely plant explosives on a key bridge, a critical artery for Russian military logistics.
standwithukraine
 

[atomheartbevo 89292]

1 hour ago, B00M said:

He drives with his head against the steering wheel like an elderly woman. Given what we know about cyber trucks, there’s a good chance the frame breaks for no reason, the air bag punches him in his neck beard and kills him. 

And I doubt whatever he has the machine gun mounted on will hold up if it was fired.

And obviously there was no spare tire.  Brilliant strategy in showing off a truck with a machine gun on it, because nobody ever gets a flat in Russia.

[AUS-97HORN 11577]

9 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

See neposts

Conversatn((Tendar)))

Depending on analysts, the Soviet reserves are spent by 2026-2027. 

 

I had to delete the longcat runon paragraph. 

 

that being said the article loses its credibility refering to soviet reserves

[atomheartbevo 89292]

7 minutes ago, The Dog said:

The Ukrainian strikes were coordinated on an extremely professional level, using artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, drones and other aerial vehicles. Communication and tactics showed that Ukrainian forces mastered what is commonly known as maneuver warfare. At no stage in this war Russians ever employed this kind of professionalism. In addition, the discipline among Ukrainian soldiers not to use mobile phones and disclose communication as well as gains in territory left Russians (and the OSINT community) relatively in the dark. The Ukrainian silence in preparation and execution of this operation might be the most astounding factor in this campaign. It almost flawlessly worked. Operational Level Aside from the tactical cleverness Ukrainians showed to us so far, it was and still is also the way they moved into the Kursk region. While Russian forces are infamous in trying to reach and overcome heavily fortified cities, towns and villages, Ukrainians rather bypassed larger settlements, cut and intercept the rear and encircle Russian troop concentrations, and by doing so staying even more in the shadows. This probably enabled the capture of large numbers of Russian POWs who found themselves quickly behind lines. Estimations go as high as 2,000 Russian soldiers being captured, an number so high that it might even be a strain for Ukrainian logistics. But it is obvious that this alone has already made the operation worthwhile. Russians, however, employed the same mistakes they made when starting the full-scale war back in February 2022. Some large columns which were mustered, were not only detected by Ukrainian forces, but as with the instance in Rylsk completely destroyed.

However much training they had in the West, it paid off, and they seem to be operating on the same level as professional Western militaries. And Russia will probably never be able to pull off maneuver warfare at this point, given their lack of training these days, which is why they are struggling to counter it.  They keep doing the same shit they did in February of 2022 - run large columns into an area.

On a side note, it’d be great if word got out all over Russia to the mothers of conscripts that Chechens are shooting at teenaged Russian conscripts.

[MillerEP 30307]

https://www.threads.net/@meanwhile_in_ua/post/C-wtWuPKcB9?xmt=AQGz03qgQIqx2uG4GBDXpNhPvZqg3gAezOYlbkGT9PHYhg

.A Ukrainian soldier removes a flag of a Communist KPRF Party from a house in liberated area of former Russia. The KPRF still uses genocidal hammer-and-sickel sign as their emblem, and praises Stalin. I wish every country was as based as Ukraine.

 

https://www.threads.net/@mx_ukr/post/C-w85k_R9o1?xmt=AQGz03qgQIqx2uG4GBDXpNhPvZqg3gAezOYlbkGT9PHYhg

The borders of 🇷🇺 are sacred and inviolable.
🤣
Go fuck yourself

^LOL

[InkaUtexas 25186]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

However much training they had in the West, it paid off, and they seem to be operating on the same level as professional Western militaries. And Russia will probably never be able to pull off maneuver warfare at this point, given their lack of training these days, which is why they are struggling to counter it.  They keep doing the same shit they did in February of 2022 - run large columns into an area.

On a side note, it’d be great if word got out all over Russia to the mothers of conscripts that Chechens are shooting at teenaged Russian conscripts.

It gets overlooked Ukraine participated in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Small sure, but they were there and observed the US and NATO coordination, communication, etc. That would be now at the higher ranks. Plus they saw how we utilized NCO's and that they are trained different than in the Soviet system. Yeah, I called it Soviet. Russia's army has not really changed since the fall of the USSR. Tactics, equipment, command philosophy, looting, sucking. All remains the same.

[The Dog 43660]

 

[General Specific 3169]

In fact you are correct. Instead of a National Championship with no end date he has a war with no end date. Both armies love to cosplay, neither has won shit, and they both like the same style of architecture.
aggy=russia. FFS.

Has Putin jumped on the battlefield to ask Ukraine soldiers to fuck his wife too?

[The Dog 43660]

 

[Pato del Muerto 52187]

5 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

Kadyrov is such a fucking choad.

Isn’t he supposed to be otherwise engaged in the Kursk area?

[bolverk 29195]

There's a post in the Elmo Mush thread, saying that the CT was a gift.

https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/topic/3382-elon-musk-officially-a-fraud-and-piece-of-shit-official-or-unofficial-war-criminal/?do=findComment&comment=6374478

 

[Pato del Muerto 52187]

1 hour ago, The Dog said:

 

[Macanudo 12911]

4 hours ago, KYHorn said:

 

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/17/kursk-ukraine-russia-energy-ceasefire/ 

  Reveal hidden contents

 Exclusive

Ukraine’s offensive derails secret efforts for partial cease-fire with Russia, officials say
The warring countries were set to hold indirect talks in Qatar on an agreement to halt strikes on energy and power infrastructure, according to officials.

9 min

A thermal power plant is damaged in a Russian airstrike in Ukraine on April 2. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post)
By Isabelle Khurshudyan, Siobhán O'Grady, John Hudson and Catherine Belton
August 17, 2024 at 3:00 a.m. EDT
KYIV — Ukraine and Russia were set to send delegations to Doha this month to negotiate a landmark agreement halting strikes on energy and power infrastructure on both sides, diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions said, in what would have amounted to a partial cease-fire and offered a reprieve for both countries.

But the indirect talks, with the Qataris serving as mediators and meeting separately with the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, were derailed by Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region last week, according to the officials. The possible agreement and planned summit have not been previously reported.

For more than a year, Russia has pounded Ukraine’s power grid with a barrage of cruise missiles and drone strikes, causing irreparable damage to power stations and rolling blackouts across the country. Meanwhile, Ukraine has struck Russia’s oil facilities with long-range drone attacks that have set ablaze refineries, depots and reservoirs, reducing Moscow’s oil refining by an estimated 15 percent and raising gas prices around the world.

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Some involved in the negotiations hoped they could lead to a more comprehensive agreement to end the war, according to the officials who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy.

The willingness to engage in the talks signaled something of a shift for both countries, at least for a limited cease-fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv would consider a full cease-fire only if Russia first withdrew all of its troops from Ukrainian land, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia invaded and annexed in 2014. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine first cede four Ukrainian regions — including some territory that Russian forces aren’t occupying — that the Kremlin has declared as part of Russia.

Ukrainian and Russian officials haven’t met face to face for talks since the first months of the war, when delegations from both sides convened for secret talks in Istanbul. Those negotiations eventually fell apart. Later, the two sides agreed to a grain deal that led to Russia temporarily lifting a naval blockade, allowing Ukraine to transfer grain through the Black Sea. That, too, collapsed months later when Russia pulled out of the deal. Other attempts to establish humanitarian corridors have largely failed.

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A diplomat briefed on the talks said Russian officials postponed their meeting with Qatari officials after Ukraine’s incursion into western Russia. Moscow’s delegation described it as “an escalation,” the diplomat said, adding that Kyiv did not warn Doha about its cross-border offensive.

Russia “didn’t call off the talks, they said give us time,” the diplomat said. Though Ukraine wanted to send its delegation to Doha anyway, the person said, Qatar declined because it did not see a one-sided meeting as beneficial. The small Arab country has positioned itself as a powerful mediator in recent years and has hosted ongoing talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza.

In response to questions from The Washington Post, the Ukrainian presidential office said in a statement that the summit in Doha was postponed “due to the situation in the Middle East,” but it would take place in a video conference format Aug. 22, after which Kyiv would consult with its partners about implementing what was discussed.

The Kremlin did not respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment for this story. The Biden administration has long said the timing and terms of a potential cease-fire agreement with Russia are for Ukraine alone to decide.

A transformer of an electrical substation burns after shelling from Ukraine in the town of Shebekino in the Belgorod region of Russia in late 2022. (Taisia Liskovets/Sputnik/AP)

The diplomat briefed on the talks said Kyiv and Moscow had both signaled their readiness to accept the arrangement in the lead-up to the summit. But senior officials in Kyiv had mixed expectations about whether the negotiations could succeed, with some putting the odds at 20 percent and others anticipating even worse prospects, according to two people familiar with the talks, even if the Kursk assault had not happened. But the planned talks and potential agreement — now on hold — raise the stakes for Zelensky’s gamble.

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One of the reasons Ukrainian officials doubted Russia’s sincerity is its extensive bombing campaign of Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent weeks. More bombardment could leave civilians without power for hours each day during the frigid winter months.

“We have one chance to get through this winter, and that’s if the Russians won’t launch any new attacks on the grid,” an Ukrainian official who was briefed on the talks said.

Kyiv’s move to push into Russia, which has occupied roughly 20 percent of Ukraine, was intended in part to give Ukraine more leverage for any future negotiations, Ukrainian and Western officials have said.

Military analysts have expressed skepticism that Ukrainian forces can maintain control of the Russian territory. Moscow has also continued to make gains in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region and has not diverted troops from there to defend the new Ukrainian assault.

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But while Kyiv might have improved its future negotiating position with the land grab, the likelihood of imminent peace talks appears diminished. Putin publicly vowed this week not to soften his position on negotiations because of the assault on Russian territory.

The diplomat familiar with the talks said that Qatar has been discussing the arrangement for an energy strike moratorium with Kyiv and Moscow for the past two months. The official said the two sides agreed to a summit in Doha with just minor details left to be worked out.

“After Kursk, the Russians balked,” another person familiar with the talks said.

A Russian academic with close ties to senior Russian diplomats signaled that Putin would not be in the mood to make a deal after the Kursk offensive.

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“You know our Russian leadership usually does not make any compromises under pressure,” the person said.

The academic added that Russia might be more willing to consider an energy infrastructure deal as a way to lure Kyiv to broader cease-fire talks. Otherwise, he said, Moscow could be less motivated since it believed it could inflict more damage on Ukrainian energy infrastructure than Kyiv was able to on Russian oil refineries.

Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s power grid have been a brutally effective tactic. Daily life for Ukrainians who live far from the front line has been disrupted by blackouts that can last hours. The outages have also severely hurt an economy already crippled by war. Some people who have moved abroad cite the power instability as a chief reason.

Ukrainian officials have expressed concern about how the country will survive the winter if Russia’s bombardment continues. Because of Russian airstrikes, Ukraine has lost around nine gigawatts of the 18 gigawatts needed for peak consumption this winter — far too much to recover in a short period of time. Officials say electricity could be limited to five to seven hours a day — or less — during the frigid months.

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“Everything has to be weighed — our potential and the possible damage to our economy versus how much more damage could we cause them and their economy,” the Ukrainian official briefed on the planned Qatar summit said. “But energy is definitely critical for us. We sometimes forget about the economy here, but we’re facing free fall if there’s no light and heat in the winter.”

The Ukrainians preferred that a potential deal to halt energy infrastructure strikes could be reached in a similar way to the grain deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022 that led to Russia temporarily lifting a naval blockade, allowing Ukraine to transfer grain through the Black Sea.

Moscow then pulled out of the agreement last year, claiming only 3 percent of the grain went to the neediest nations despite U.N. figures showing the majority of the exports from the deal went to developing countries. However, Kyiv has continued to successfully move cargo out of its Black Sea ports with Ankara’s support.

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A second Ukrainian official familiar with the potential agreement said that for an energy strike ban, “we talk with partners to be sure that the deal will work, not one-to-one with Russia, as it was.”

Kyiv has lobbied countries to support its 10-point peace plan, which includes a full Russian withdrawal. At a two-day summit in Switzerland in June that was organized by Ukraine, more than 80 countries’ delegations signed onto a joint statement that promoted prisoner exchanges, nuclear safety and food security.

A woman walks with a dog during a partial blackout in Kyiv on June 5. (Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty Images)

Progress on other issues, such as energy security, was discussed in smaller working groups. Shortly after the summit, Qatar proposed the idea of an energy cease-fire and started discussing a potential plan with both sides, officials said. Ukrainian officials were receptive, they said, because they considered the talks as falling under Kyiv’s peace plan initiative and intended to involve partners in the energy security working group.

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Ukraine did not invite a Russian delegation to the peace summit in June, but Zelensky has said Moscow will be invited to the next one, which expected to be held this fall. Some Ukrainian officials and Western diplomats have viewed that step as a sign that Kyiv is now more open to considering negotiations with Russia.

Other Ukrainian officials have quickly pointed out that Ukraine has always been receptive to talks but demand that those discussions respect Ukraine’s full territorial integrity.

Some Russian analysts said Ukraine’s daring seizure of Russian territory in the Kursk region could hand Ukraine a powerful bargaining chip in any future negotiations with Russia, if the Ukrainian troops succeed in building fortifications to defend their position before a full-scale Russian counterattack.

“Putin has said many times that any peace agreement should take into account the facts on the ground and that Russia will not leave the territory it has taken,” said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political analyst.

Ukraine is trying “to break this formula and gain Russian territory to exchange,” he said.

 

Did anyone else read that first tweet headline in the voice of the Law and Order guy?

[MissingInAction 24695]

2 hours ago, The Dog said:

 

Lol the Tetris theme fucking slayed me.

[Gatorubet 29928]

7 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

Did anyone else read that first tweet headline in the voice of the Law and Order guy?

on what planet would you believe a Russian promise not to attack your utilities as long as you quit attacking Russian oil and gas facilities?

If it’s difficult for a pathological liar to be believed in negotiations, maybe not being a pathological liar for the entire history of your country would be a good place to start.

[Pato del Muerto 52187]

10 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

Lol the Tetris theme fucking slayed me.

It was the HUP on the first step for me

[InkaUtexas 25186]

2 hours ago, General Specific said:

Has Putin jumped on the battlefield to ask Ukraine soldiers to fuck his wife too?

Maybe....???? if so bet it was Kadyrov.

[The Dog 43660]

1 hour ago, bolverk said:

There's a post in the Elmo Mush thread, saying that the CT was a gift.

https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/topic/3382-elon-musk-officially-a-fraud-and-piece-of-shit-official-or-unofficial-war-criminal/?do=findComment&comment=6374478

 

 

[BamaATL 16592]

16 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

on what planet would you believe a Russian promise not to attack your utilities as long as you quit attacking Russian oil and gas facilities?

If it’s difficult for a pathological liar to be believed in negotiations, maybe not being a pathological liar for the entire history of your country would be a good place to start.

There are so many problems with that article and this "negotiation".  

1st -  Since when are the Qatari's the authority on human rights negotiation?  These guys killed thousands to have some soccer games.

2nd - Russia is a consistent bad faith actor (see the grain deal)

3rd - even if the power brokers realize that their biggest cash cow, oil and gas, is now in tremendous peril, any negotiating prompted by these guys could be overridden. 

Why should the Ukrainians even bother?  

[MillerEP 30307]

https://www.threads.net/@ghostoflviv_/post/C-yO5GMSyU8?xmt=AQGzvfGi0oUeSiqM_0GQRJ2eYQz9rJwwKqWjSNBEKFJy_g

Ukrainian forces have severely damaged the bridge crossing in Zvannoe, Kursk.

 

https://www.threads.net/@nickmelnick.osint/post/C-ycdHxI1jh?xmt=AQGzC92RdvkOp34dELCUw-d1z9S6avTkfvyZrKhQMDm0YQ

🇺🇦⚡️🇷🇺Another group of Russian soldiers in the Kursk region has been added to the Ukrainian exchange fund.
🤔I don't know how long they were hiding in these woods, but they definitely need to go to the hospital.

[Deej 76329]

5 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

I anxiously await F-16 freedom boner war porn.

 

[Chopper 17038]

(Assuming Musk actually gifted and/or caused the transport of a truck to Russia) I'm no expert on sanctions but Kadyrov is a sanctioned individual and a truck has to be considered a sanctioned product, so if what Kadyrov said is true, Musk could/should be well and good fucked. I hope we see some int'l law experts chiming in on bluesky or threads soon. 

[MissingInAction 24695]

All of his assets could be seized if anyone cares to follow up on this dipshit. 

[Pato del Muerto 52187]

So how do logistics chains work during the muddy season?

[bolverk 29195]

 

This one is worth turning the volume on for (don't forget to turn it back off lest you'll be assaulted by Reddit autoplays each time you click this page.)

 

[bolverk 29195]

 

 

[bolverk 29195]

They're really terrible at the actual war stuff.

 

 

[bolverk 29195]

 

Given their penchant for getting drunk, I kind of understand why their commander did this (scroll right).

 

[BamaATL 16592]

19 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

So how do logistics chains work during the muddy season?

Long story short, they really don't in active combat areas, or if they do its really slow.  If you notice in all the rural areas of Ukraine, all the paved roads and railroads are elevated for to prevent this from being a problem under ordinary circumstances.  However, in the combat zone, or rather within in drone range, paved roads may as well be death sentences for anyone traveling on them as they are under constant surveillance.  So basically everything slows to a crawl.  

I remember watching the Ukrainians doing training with the Bradleys in the mud, basically it's a total quagmire.  So heavy vehicles, heavy equipment, etc, aren't going to fair well.  Lighter off road vehicles can get thru this sort of stuff with major difficulty, but obviously that means they can't haul nearly as much.  

[Pato del Muerto 52187]

1 minute ago, BamaATL said:

Long story short, they really don't in active combat areas, or if they do its really slow.  If you notice in all the rural areas of Ukraine, all the paved roads and railroads are elevated for to prevent this from being a problem under ordinary circumstances.  However, in the combat zone, or rather within in drone range, paved roads may as well be death sentences for anyone traveling on them as they are under constant surveillance.  So basically everything slows to a crawl.  

I remember watching the Ukrainians doing training with the Bradleys in the mud, basically it's a total quagmire.  So heavy vehicles, heavy equipment, etc, aren't going to fair well.  Lighter off road vehicles can get thru this sort of stuff with major difficulty, but obviously that means they can't haul nearly as much.  

I guess it wasn’t obvious, but the question in this instance was meant to ask how Ukraine can support their Kursk  holdings after the muddy season slows/stops the active fighting. 

[BamaATL 16592]

15 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I guess it wasn’t obvious, but the question in this instance was meant to ask how Ukraine can support their Kursk  holdings after the muddy season slows/stops the active fighting. 

That's a great question, I would presume a combination of preparation, i.e. fortifications and supply caches within them, and then as they can.  It's not something covered a ton, probably because it doesn't involve explosions and what not, but it's what wins.  I'm sure part of the reason we don't see much of this is for protective purposes, and I'm sure there is some level of secret sauce to it.  

The one interesting aspect to all this is that apparently, the Soviets were more scared of end times than we ever were.  All thru Ukraine, there are fortified underground bunkers pretty much everywhere, so many, that there aren't even accurate records of where they all are (The Ukrainians have admitted they use those for Himars hosting, I would imagine logistics as well).  I'm gonna presume that this is also true in much of Russia, including the Kursk region.  I've already seen that the Ukrainians have seized some of these, including there weapons and tech, and those are probably just the ones they know about.  

[Nivek 16738]

And I doubt whatever he has the machine gun mounted on will hold up if it was fired.
And obviously there was no spare tire.  Brilliant strategy in showing off a truck with a machine gun on it, because nobody ever gets a flat in Russia.

That stupid fucking thing can’t handle a water balloon.

[Nivek 16738]

[/url]  
Given their penchant for getting drunk, I kind of understand why their commander did this (scroll right).
 

If you were ordered to be cannon fodder, have no training, and have a group of blockers ready to kill you if you retreat, would you want to be sober?

[MissingInAction 24695]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I guess it wasn’t obvious, but the question in this instance was meant to ask how Ukraine can support their Kursk  holdings after the muddy season slows/stops the active fighting. 

They will dig in. Judging by the flow of mechanized troops they are bringing the fucking house into orclandia.

[bolverk 29195]

54 minutes ago, Nivek said:

If you were ordered to be cannon fodder, have no training, and have a group of blockers ready to kill you if you retreat, would you want to be sober?

Sir, you do make a compelling point.

[InkaUtexas 25186]

1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

They will dig in. Judging by the flow of mechanized troops they are bringing the fucking house into orclandia.

They can dig in, sure, but trenches flood. How about the supply chain bringing equipment they could not take with them? Food and clean water being two. Not sure there are a lot of good roads in that region for 4-5 months a year.

And would want to eat captured russian rations?

[BamaATL 16592]

I remember from a while back after the Ukrainians initially got the HIMARs one of the operators in a video mentioned that they were hiding in old Soviet built hardened bunkers, and shortly thereafter there was article detailing this.  Anyway, in the article, from what I remember from reading it, when the Soviet Union collapsed, a lot of the record keeping was done in each administrative district, and as a result a lot stuff never wound up going back to Russia.  The Ukrainians, either with great foresight or just as a matter of policy, kept all this well organized, whereas the Russia's either didn't wind up with much in the way of records from the breakaway republics, or never really bothered with keeping them centrally in the first place (another possibility is that they have the records, it's just never been dealt with).  

This could explain why the Ukrainians know where all these bunkers are in Ukraine (and perhaps Kursk, given the proximity) and why the Russians don't.  If you recall, when the Russians first invaded, many of the troops were found with road maps that dated back to the 60s, which doesn't exactly bode well for a lot of things, but record keeping of any type stands out.  At any rate, this may well be a large part of their secret sauce when it comes to logistics.  

As I mentioned earlier, the Soviets were clearly very concerned with end world stuff and from what I understand, every town pretty much has these sort of hardened underground bunkers, many of the villages with more than one.  The assumption that the Russians would know where all these sort of facilities are in Kursk may well be backwards.  

If that is in fact the case, it would potentially give the Ukrainians the ability to stage their logistics in forward areas easier than we are thinking.     

[KYHorn 16751]

Recently, Luka has seemed very eager for this to end

It's a sign. The gods are angry.

 

  

 

[RPM 26149]

 

[RPM 26149]

 

[KYHorn 16751]

Abandoning their own grannys and now this

Pretty remarkable footage

 

Edited August 18 by KYHorn