Marshal Prolapse posted:

https://twitter.com/ivanastradner/status/1512805166512226305?s=21&t=20tuGFCTTxPD1kvKDTZZKQ

Marshal Prolapse posted:

Nah just drone his rear end. Shows them they can’t protect anyone, even the top of the chain, so if you’re at the bottom, your “turbo hosed.”

Ola posted:

A guy escaped Mariupol by swimming 2.5 miles.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/07/ukraine-escape-from-mariupol-man-swam-eussian-terror

Alan Smithee posted:

uhhh I highly date this one consultant they are bringing in is going to unfuck their whole systemic necrosis

Alan Smithee posted:

uhhh I highly date this one consultant they are bringing in is going to unfuck their whole systemic necrosis

quote:

For people like me, the organisation of the RFA is ‘simple’: Putin is the ‘Commander in Chief’, he is issuing orders to Shoygu, Shoygu to the headquarters of the responsible military districts (West OSK and South OSK), and commanders of military districts to commanders of field armies (GTAs, GCAAs, CAAs, and ACs). This is how the RFA is indoctrinated, organised, equipped and trained to work.
Now it turned out that nothing of this was the case so far.

Instead, and ‘faithfully’ along the principle, ‘let all the guys earn their medals’, Putin was issuing his ‘orders’ directly to commanders of field armies (note: Putin is never issuing clear and direct orders: that would make him directly responsible; instead, he’s commanding through ‘rough directives’, so that it’s always the recipient of these who is to blame if something goes wrong). Shoygu, MOD, West OSK and South OSK played no role in operations so far, except for monitoring the growing chaos around them… because, the result was that every commander of every single field army was running his own operation. There was no coordination between them.

Obviously, Putin’s orders were based on Putin’s political interests, Putin’s wishful thinking and illusions, not on military realities: every commander of every field army was ordering his troops to do exactly what he understood Putin demands, even if knowing that the mass of orders was not making any sense.

What a surprise then, the result was a total screw up. Airborne units of the 35th CAA were rushing in complete disregard for coordination with heavier, mechanised units of the 36th CAA — which was slow to follow up, and when it appeared, did not provide support. Eventually, battered units of the 35th ended in the back of the 36th (and the other way around), resulting in that ‘legendary’ traffic jam of their supply columns… Another example: the 1st GTA de-facto fell apart because the 2nd GCAA couldn’t care less about protecting its supply lines, and then the 2nd GCAA’s advance on Kyiv collapsed, and the 6th CAA was mauled by a single Ukrainian mechanised brigade — because the 1st GTA was neither there to protect the flank of its northern- nor that of its southern neighbour…

There was no coordination between RFA’s field armies at all. Each army commander was acting on his own, along ‘order from above’. Exactly like Keystone Cops…

BTW, this practice could be monitored all the way to operations south of Izium and in the Severodonetsk area of the last few days: remnants of the 1st GTA and the 20th CAA were rushed through positions of the 6th CAA with intention of ‘encircling the LOC’ from the north. Independently from this, the 1st AC was ordered to assault and conquer Severodonetsk: why trying to surround the place on one side, while assaulting it on the other — all at the same time? This is making no sense at all.

Obviously, there was no coordination at all between four involved field armies: each of commanders was following his own set of orders, and their units were providing no mutual support to each other…

(BTW, this is explaining even why all the ‘humanitarian corridors’ didn’t work. For example: how should anybody on the Russian side have coordinated exit of civilians out of Mariupol, if these had to pass through the areas controlled by the 1st AC, 8th and then the 58th CAA — if the three didn’t coordinate even their combat operations….?!?)

Now, I do not know who has managed that ‘feat’, but as of yesterday, the entire chain of command of the RFA was restored to what it should have been, right from the start. Henceforth, all the operations in Ukraine are to be run by a single, unified command. That is: the headquarters South OSK, commanded by Army General Aleksandr Dvornikov.

Alan Smithee posted:

uhhh I highly date this one consultant they are bringing in is going to unfuck their whole systemic necrosis

quote:

This was announced by Sergei Ilyin on his Facebook page.

"The world's first looting and terrorist forces in Kherson stole property belonging to the fish inspection. Namely, engines, boats and vehicles. Also, Russian looting troops are looting boat berths. They are stealing boats and motorbikes," the statement said.

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Oh no that's not at all what I mean. I should've just quoted the article

https://medium.com/@x_TomCooper_x/supplement-reorganisation-of-the-rfa-command-in-ukraine-d1bb674718fc

This obviously will not solve all of Russia's problems. It won't solve the decades of institutional rot and it won't solve the problem that Ukraine's military is generally better trained and more independent (and at this point much better equipped at least at the level of individual soldiers).

But it may address the total non-coordination problem between units issue, so we may see a lot fewer vehicle columns wandering around without air support type issues.

Pablo Bluth posted:

Apart from the video of a helicopter that might have been hit by one, there's been a distinct lack of attributable Starstreak appearances in Ukraine. Either they're not proving useful, haven't been deployed in great numbers, or it's been good opsec. NLAW seem to be the ones that have made a difference. One of the reminders from this war is that cheap and plentiful it itself a valuable quality (unless it's something Russian that's cheap, plentiful but badly maintained).

Dapper_Swindler posted:

https://twitter.com/666_mancer/status/1511948583259545600

yeah, thats a not a good sign. like obviously people age faster and poo poo but if your sending someone my dads age off to die in some BTR, your not doing so hot. i assume part of the reason they are wearing masks is to hide the ages, either really young kids or old loving men and dudes who probably wouldnt qualify at all.

Crow Buddy posted:

From a few pages back. Are these Ukrainian TDF (aux I hope) geezers or Russian geezers being sent to the front? I am guessing the latter but come on…

Crow Buddy posted:

From a few pages back. Are these Ukrainian TDF (aux I hope) geezers or Russian geezers being sent to the front? I am guessing the latter but come on…

quote:

Instead, and ‘faithfully’ along the principle, ‘let all the guys earn their medals’, Putin was issuing his ‘orders’ directly to commanders of field armies (note: Putin is never issuing clear and direct orders: that would make him directly responsible; instead, he’s commanding through ‘rough directives’, so that it’s always the recipient of these who is to blame if something goes wrong). Shoygu, MOD, West OSK and South OSK played no role in operations so far, except for monitoring the growing chaos around them… because, the result was that every commander of every single field army was running his own operation. There was no coordination between them.

Bug Squash posted:

This is exactly how Michael Cohen described Trump's method for giving orders. Total lack of personal accountability, so it's always someone else's fault if they chose to accomplish your directive in an illegal manner. I would wager this is pretty common in any criminal enterprise. Pretty good for keeping the big cheese safe and feeling important, but utter crap at doing anything efficiently.

Dapper_Swindler posted:

https://twitter.com/666_mancer/status/1511948583259545600

yeah, thats a not a good sign. like obviously people age faster and poo poo but if your sending someone my dads age off to die in some BTR, your not doing so hot. i assume part of the reason they are wearing masks is to hide the ages, either really young kids or old loving men and dudes who probably wouldnt qualify at all.

Bug Squash posted:

This is exactly how Michael Cohen described Trump's method for giving orders. Total lack of personal accountability, so it's always someone else's fault if they chose to accomplish your directive in an illegal manner. I would wager this is pretty common in any criminal enterprise. Pretty good for keeping the big cheese safe and feeling important, but utter crap at doing anything efficiently.

Crow Buddy posted:

From a few pages back. Are these Ukrainian TDF (aux I hope) geezers or Russian geezers being sent to the front? I am guessing the latter but come on…

Kavros posted:

Pablo Bluth posted:

Apart from the video of a helicopter that might have been hit by one, there's been a distinct lack of attributable Starstreak appearances in Ukraine. Either they're not proving useful, haven't been deployed in great numbers, or it's been good opsec. NLAW seem to be the ones that have made a difference. One of the reminders from this war is that cheap and plentiful it itself a valuable quality (unless it's something Russian that's cheap, plentiful but badly maintained).

Bug Squash posted:

This is exactly how Michael Cohen described Trump's method for giving orders. Total lack of personal accountability, so it's always someone else's fault if they chose to accomplish your directive in an illegal manner. I would wager this is pretty common in any criminal enterprise. Pretty good for keeping the big cheese safe and feeling important, but utter crap at doing anything efficiently.

Alan Smithee posted:

uhhh I highly date this one consultant they are bringing in is going to unfuck their whole systemic necrosis

Dapper_Swindler posted:

Russia. there is video of them. its in Tuva which is a poor southern region of Russia.

quote:

Russian President Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in American politics, U.S. intelligence officials have assessed. Intelligence agencies have so far not found any evidence that Putin has authorized measures like the ones Russia is believed to have undertaken in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections in support of former President Donald Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings.

But given Putin’s antipathy toward the West and his repeated denunciations of Ukraine, officials believe he may see the U.S. backing of Ukraine’s resistance as a direct affront to him, giving him further incentive to target another U.S. election, the people said. It is not yet clear which candidates Russia might try to promote or what methods it might use. The assessment comes with the U.S. electoral system already under pressure. The American public remains sharply divided over the last presidential election and the insurrection that followed at the U.S. Capitol, when supporters of Trump tried to stop the certification of his loss to President Joe Biden. Trump has repeatedly assailed intelligence officials and claimed investigations of Russian influence on his campaigns to be political vendettas.

Top U.S. intelligence officials are still working on plans for a new center authorized by Congress focusing on foreign influence campaigns by Russia, China and other adversaries. Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, also recently appointed career CIA officer Jeffrey Wichman to the position of election threats executive several months after the departure of the previous executive, Shelby Pierson. “Our Election Threats Executive continues to lead the Intelligence Community’s efforts against foreign threats to U.S. elections,” said Nicole de Haay, a spokesperson for Haines, in a statement. “We’re also continuing to work to deliver on the legislative requirement to create a center to integrate intelligence on foreign malign influence.”

Grouchio posted:

Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics

I wonder how Biden's admin can/will handle this.

Grouchio posted:

Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics

I wonder how Biden's admin can/will handle this.

OddObserver posted:

https://mobile.twitter.com/haynesdeborah/status/1512835320668168201

Grouchio posted:

Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics

I wonder how Biden's admin can/will handle this.

Dapper_Swindler posted:

well they were able to pull all the various kill switches and mallware putin planted through out the net. i am pretty sure they will be way way more prepared this time.

Grouchio posted:

Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics

I wonder how Biden's admin can/will handle this.

Grouchio posted:

Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics

I wonder how Biden's admin can/will handle this.

CommieGIR posted:

Have a bomb sniffing dog

https://twitter.com/nite0wl/status/1512855065102635015?s=20&t=lScJOG1-qvfPVNV5w0Bu1Q

PederP posted:

Indeed, and there is also a limit to what Russia can do with the economy they have, especially post-sanctions. The Russian regime isn't the only actor (state as well as non-state) with a vested interest in US elections. And many of those actors have considerably deeper pockets than Kremlin. Even if Russia has proven exceptionally apt at manipulating and influencing the politics and public discourse of other countries, it still takes money, time and people to keep up the effort.

For what it is worth, I certainly don't think Wall Street and global capital interests want an isolationist president with pro-Russia bias. Kremlin has gone full anti-globalism. There is a lot of existing pro-Russian bias in the system in many countries, but I think it will fade as current and (sadly) future atrocities are revealed and create stronger anti-Putin, anti-Russian sentiments.

But lets see how this war ends. There may not be a President Putin to influence the next election. I have a hard time seeing the current regime remain in power for an extended duration. The Russian economy is broken, the war is a disaster for them - and it may yet get worse. I'm still tending towards a dissolution of the Russian Federation within a few years or the regime being replaced with a China-backed communist party taking over and introducing a parallel power structure.

Kraftwerk posted:

Do we have any information about where the current status of the war is?

Has everyone just dug into fixed lines along the East with no major advances or battles now?

Kraftwerk posted:

Do we have any information about where the current status of the war is?

Has everyone just dug into fixed lines along the East with no major advances or battles now?