|
Dirt5o8 posted:I'd be curious as to what exact vehicle that is. MRAPs are designed to fall apart like Legos, which absorbs the blast and protects the crew. That looks like a more conventional armored vehicle that I wouldn't have thought would be able to take a mine hit so we'll. French were and still are early adaptors for full protection systems of NBC, I forget the name of APC (it's was designed in the 60s) in question featured in the video, but it's got an armored segmented hull between the crew compartment and the troop section, with an optional armored divider for further internal protection, on top the armor on the hull of the vehicle. It wasn't purpose built to be mine-resistant, but all the other considerations and design decisions unintentionally (or intentionally) make it so.
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 19:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 21:49 |
|
|
mobby_6kl posted:Yep thank for digging that up Foliage in the red forest does not decompose quickly because the foliage is pulling up buried caesium from the soil like a sponge, and the radiation is so strong that it kills bacteria faster than it breaks down the plant matter, so it's really bad on the surface there. Not even workers at Chernobyl are allowed off paths into the red forest under any circumstances, regardless of protective gear, it's just too irradiated for any safe exposure The troops there were not only digging trenches and kicking up soil with vehicles while using zero protective gear, but also burning that heavily contaminated wood & foliage and huddling around it for heat, cooking food over it, boiling water, and inhaling the smoke. They weren't just being exposed to the stuff, and sleeping ontop of it, but ingesting it. AFAIK, That's why they got so sick so rapidly, and for the people it happened to there's no saving them, because they've got alpha/beta emitters circling through their body blasting everything from the inside. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people who got sick from it initially have already died FirstnameLastname fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Oct 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 20:27
|
|
|
OddObserver posted:https://mobile.twitter.com/mariamposts/status/1585291355424788480 This and the conversation with the counterintelligence agent are all about "hey did you know chauvinism makes your whole country absolutely batfuck" like there is always a point where it goes off the rails and leaves entire countries susceptible to this poo poo, it filters up to leadership or national identity so bad that it can put an entire country on the path to destructive consuming revanchism or other crazy things russia is crazy to watch right now because they're destroying themselves almost completely on the decision to own the hohols but you read about the hypernationalist identity out there to forcibly repatriate the wayward ukranian and you start thinking of when 9/11 happened and straight up hoo-rah American chowderbrains who would do stuff like 'freedom fries' became a power bloc of hypernationalists so lustful for middle easterner death that we were perma-sold on multi trillion dollar forever wars in two countries, or the 'wolf warriors' you can drive into absolutely literal and genuine rage by mentioning Taiwan as an independent country and you start thinking oh cool this defined a lot of our lives already, and it won't be the last time we watch it play out this way lol Hopefully it's the most extreme case in our lifetime but the structure of it is cancerously seeded elsewhere and ready to go nuts
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 20:28
|
|
|
SirTagz posted:I feel silly for asking but why is it even noteworthy that Belarussia is healing Russian soldiers? Like.. Russia attacked straight from their territory already, Russia is using their airbases. What is so significant about having some doctors heal some wounded men? The really big one is that it's controversial to belarusians and to the people actually being forced to provide the care. Otherwise providing medical care is not some scandal or huge controversy in a laws of war sense. It's newsworthy because it gives insight into something Russia carefully lied and tried to message/deflect away from and it matches up and confirms early observations that suggested significant amounts of Russian wounded were filing up Belarusian hospitals. It's also just an interesting personal account of the doctor and his family's struggle to get out and make a new life and of what people fleeing Belarus are facing. Staluigi posted:This and the conversation with the counterintelligence agent are all about "hey did you know chauvinism makes your whole country absolutely batfuck" like there is always a point where it goes off the rails and leaves entire countries susceptible to this poo poo, it filters up to leadership or national identity so bad that it can put an entire country on the path to destructive consuming revanchism or other crazy things it pretty much invariably leads into incredibly stupid and self-destructive internally reinforcing feedback loops, too. Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Oct 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 20:28
|
|
|
I vaguely recall that there is some question as to whether that's actually Potemkin's body (or a Potemkin Potemkin's body?), and it's simultaneously both too amusing a thought and completely unimportant to verify whether the question has any ground in reality.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:15
|
|
|
OddObserver posted:https://mobile.twitter.com/mariamposts/status/1585291355424788480
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:18
|
|
|
OddObserver posted:I vaguely recall that there is some question as to whether that's actually Potemkin's body (or a Potemkin Potemkin's body?), and it's simultaneously both too amusing a thought and completely unimportant to verify whether the question has any ground in reality. It’s a Potemkin Potemkin’s body in that it’s a vase with his ash, but it is in fact stored in the St. Catherine’s Cathedral of Kherson, or was anyway.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:21
|
|
|
I understand why mercenary companies can be convenient and how Wagner has been a useful tool for Russian foreign policy. But when fighting full-fledged wars, as the invasion of Ukraine has turned into, are they really useful anymore? Prolonged warfare between modern nations seem to require large citizen armies, and I don't see how mercenary companies are a useful part of that calculus, unless they also function as foreign legions and thus increase the available manpower pool. I understand that Wagner is also a political player, but at this point in the war, is it really contributing anything useful in a military sense that the regular Russian forces couldn't do? Wagner seems to be the mechanism by which prisoners are recruited for the war, but it's not clear to me whether they show up in useful numbers, or whether the regular army couldn't just raise penal battalions as well.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:31
|
|
|
Athas posted:I understand why mercenary companies can be convenient and how Wagner has been a useful tool for Russian foreign policy. But when fighting full-fledged wars, as the invasion of Ukraine has turned into, are they really useful anymore? Prolonged warfare between modern nations seem to require large citizen armies, and I don't see how mercenary companies are a useful part of that calculus, unless they also function as foreign legions and thus increase the available manpower pool. I understand that Wagner is also a political player, but at this point in the war, is it really contributing anything useful in a military sense that the regular Russian forces couldn't do? Wagner seems to be the mechanism by which prisoners are recruited for the war, but it's not clear to me whether they show up in useful numbers, or whether the regular army couldn't just raise penal battalions as well. The thing you need to bear in mind is that Wagner mercenaries exist to be barely-deniable Russian professional soldiers who are an unofficial arm of the Russia state. If you are a motivated Russian soldier then your career options are to take a contract and experience the awfulness of the Russian army or sign up with Wagner and you'll have to work for your money but get paid a lot more and the people around you will be similarly motivated.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:45
|
|
|
Athas posted:I understand why mercenary companies can be convenient and how Wagner has been a useful tool for Russian foreign policy. But when fighting full-fledged wars, as the invasion of Ukraine has turned into, are they really useful anymore? Prolonged warfare between modern nations seem to require large citizen armies, and I don't see how mercenary companies are a useful part of that calculus, unless they also function as foreign legions and thus increase the available manpower pool. I understand that Wagner is also a political player, but at this point in the war, is it really contributing anything useful in a military sense that the regular Russian forces couldn't do? Wagner seems to be the mechanism by which prisoners are recruited for the war, but it's not clear to me whether they show up in useful numbers, or whether the regular army couldn't just raise penal battalions as well. Wagner's penal battalions are not specialists of any form of warfare (even to the standards of average Wagner mercs). Historically mercs were highly trained and experienced. The highest wages were paid for unique specialists who could for example cast a cannon that would bring down the strongest of walls. For example, one of the hitches in providing western air equipment for Ukraine has been that it takes a while to certify pilots just to fly a new thing, then some more to make sure that they know the expensive equipment well enough to come back alive from a combat mission. But what if a PMC could provide a list of airmen that know the ins and outs of e.g. F-16 and are willing to either provide additional training and technical support or even fly missions themselves? It's not something that is going to happen in an instant, but if more governments get the feeling that they need more 'flexibility' in fighting proxy wars... Nenonen fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Oct 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:57
|
|
|
Athas posted:I understand that Wagner is also a political player, but at this point in the war, is it really contributing anything useful in a military sense that the regular Russian forces couldn't do? There's always an element of organizational inertia to consider. Even if it is a purely useless division, it would take effort to fold the organization back into the official Russian army. I think one could easily argue that Prigozhin's antics are weakening the overall war effort, but I would assume the people in charge of Wagner would prefer to have their own little fiefdom.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:57
|
|
|
Nenonen posted:Wagner's penal battalions are not specialists of any form of warfare. Historically mercs were highly trained and experienced. The highest wages were paid for unique specialists who could for example cast a cannon that would bring down the strongest of walls. Metal Gear?! The PMCs in that game series are basically exactly what you're describing, but yeah I think there's a ways to go before we're fully living that reality.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 21:59
|
|
|
I have seen some videos of the remaining wagner types at work against the Ukranian military and it is very clear that whatever of their competence hasn't been annihilated is being purely squandered, and much of what's left of them doesn't appear formidable anyway. I think most of them are just getting dumped out wherever russia is trying to shore up their defense lines and expect them to perform miracles with whatever support exists, and it's all just the same mediocrity at work. I'm sure they're absolutely top-rate at the russian institutional specialty of warcrimes against civilians though.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 22:01
|
|
|
Nenonen posted:Wagner's penal battalions are not specialists of any form of warfare (even to the standards of average Wagner mercs). Historically mercs were highly trained and experienced. The highest wages were paid for unique specialists who could for example cast a cannon that would bring down the strongest of walls. "Funnily" Wagner has some Su-25s....
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 22:12
|
|
|
Tarezax posted:Metal Gear?! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katangese_Air_Force https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Outcomes Kojima didn’t exactly invent the idea of the PMC, and I suspect he was likely inspired particularly by Executive Outcomes, given that around the same time period you also got other PMC-related games like Jagged Alliance and Strike Commander. And the idea of contracting from aboard for specialist knowledge you don’t have in-house is as old as the concept of mercenaries to begin with. It’s just that in the modern age the specific conditions that make fighter pilot mercs possible tend to be rare - notice how both those examples involved a lot of suddenly unemployed military specialists. Which incidentally ties back to that earlier article about Afghan commandos - that’s definitely a large pool of potential future mercs…
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 22:17
|
|
|
Athas posted:I understand why mercenary companies can be convenient and how Wagner has been a useful tool for Russian foreign policy. But when fighting full-fledged wars, as the invasion of Ukraine has turned into, are they really useful anymore? Prolonged warfare between modern nations seem to require large citizen armies, and I don't see how mercenary companies are a useful part of that calculus, unless they also function as foreign legions and thus increase the available manpower pool. I understand that Wagner is also a political player, but at this point in the war, is it really contributing anything useful in a military sense that the regular Russian forces couldn't do? Wagner seems to be the mechanism by which prisoners are recruited for the war, but it's not clear to me whether they show up in useful numbers, or whether the regular army couldn't just raise penal battalions as well. Check out this article that Russian independent media Meduza did this summer https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/07/14/a-mercenaries-war quote:Political squabbles and personal conflicts nearly cost Evgeny Prigozhin his prized position in Vladimir Putin’s circle of trust. Over the course of the war in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry has gradually erased the boundaries between mercenaries and the military. The armed forces essentially commandeered the recruiting network built by the Wagner Group (the private military company that Prigozhin finances) and largely excluded the organization itself from the initial invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Russian army and other mercenary groups performed so poorly on the battlefield, however, that Moscow eventually called on Wagner’s regulars, restoring Prigozhin to the president’s good graces. The recruitment network (that Wagner used in prior years to offer dirty work for veterans of 2014) and training infrastructure were its most important assets prior to enlisting convicts into cannon fodder. At this point (and many thousands dead bodies later) it is mostly just a brand and ongoing PR campaign for Prigozhin - something that tries to project competence and professionalism in contrast to the sad state of Russian military. No one should forget how much of PR hound Prigozhin is (he is a troll factory man) and be careful about overstating Wagner capabilites. fatherboxx fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Oct 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 22:20
|
|
|
Executive Outcomes, subsidiary of Strategic Resource Corporation, are bad guys from early 2000s FMV cyberpunk game and you can't convince me otherwise.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 22:30
|
|
|
More CommentisFreed:https://twitter.com/LawDavF/status/1585236315947536384
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 22:44
|
|
|
Sorry for a kind of OT post, but probably other people have this issue: why do Twitter links show up with a full preview in my phone browser, but on my Mac they just show up as a bunch of bare hyperlinks? I’d have to independently click if I wanted to read them, which is inevitably a hassle and makes the thread way harder to read. I did some google searches and it turned up nothing, admittedly I couldn’t think of a good search term.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 22:48
|
|
|
Saladman posted:Sorry for a kind of OT post, but probably other people have this issue: why do Twitter links show up with a full preview in my phone browser, but on my Mac they just show up as a bunch of bare hyperlinks? I’d have to independently click if I wanted to read them, which is inevitably a hassle and makes the thread way harder to read. I did some google searches and it turned up nothing, admittedly I couldn’t think of a good search term.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 23:02
|
|
|
Saladman posted:Sorry for a kind of OT post, but probably other people have this issue: why do Twitter links show up with a full preview in my phone browser, but on my Mac they just show up as a bunch of bare hyperlinks? I’d have to independently click if I wanted to read them, which is inevitably a hassle and makes the thread way harder to read. I did some google searches and it turned up nothing, admittedly I couldn’t think of a good search term.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 23:09
|
|
|
Yeah, I had the same problem with Chromium, kept fiddling with extensions, nothing helped, then I noticed the browser somehow had the third party content blocking setting checked, disabling it solved the issue.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 23:19
|
|
|
Saladman posted:Sorry for a kind of OT post, but probably other people have this issue: why do Twitter links show up with a full preview in my phone browser, but on my Mac they just show up as a bunch of bare hyperlinks? I’d have to independently click if I wanted to read them, which is inevitably a hassle and makes the thread way harder to read. I did some google searches and it turned up nothing, admittedly I couldn’t think of a good search term. Tracking protection sometimes messes with link previews.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 00:30
|
|
|
Interesting. Seems like this little conflict is escalating pretty hard https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1585393044437995521?t=L_B-09P4NtT1eelte1iTTw&s=19 Grozev knows his stuff so I would imagine he knows what he's talking about here
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 01:45
|
|
|
KitConstantine posted:Interesting. Seems like this little conflict is escalating pretty hard Prigozhin sure is writing a lot of check his rear end can't cash. Bakhmut was supposed to be a trophy for Wagner but months of hard work and casualties is just repulsed with a slight exertion of the Ukrainians and he's claiming that Putin is putting too much work on them. I am thinking that Wagner's failures are becoming intolerable and he's making a play while he still can.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 01:57
|
|
|
So weird how having no regard for the lives of your own troops doesn't work so well over the long term when fighting a peer opponent. Almost like preserving soldiers' lives isn't just morally superior, but more effective as well.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 02:38
|
|
|
Slight OT, I noticed that the quoted tweet has Prigozhin's name as Yevgeny Viktorovich. I understand that Viktorovich is the guy's father's name and is an informal version of Prigozhin's name? Why would a news agency use that instead of his formal last name?
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 03:09
|
|
|
KitConstantine posted:Interesting. Seems like this little conflict is escalating pretty hard Kadyrov came out two days and basically called the current conduct of the war stupid and ineffective. This is Prigozhin wading back in and also still freshly pissed that mod goons came after his people recently for the horrible crime of being publicly critical of how the war was being conducted. Also worth noting that MoD is actively running wagner into the ground as fast as humanly possible. At some point it becomes existential for them to oppose how the MoD is running the war. Also I don't think it gets remarked on enough: this war is being used by Russian MoD and Wagner as a way of getting rid of a ton of people that it either finds undesirable (prisoners, arguably ethnic mobiks) or potential rivals (Chechens, Wagner especially, PMCs in general). A lot of the accounts of how the least desirable troops are used describe stuff that is everything short of just machine gunning them yourself, eg 'assault this field with no artillery or air support, little ammo, and no there's no intel about where or how many enemy might be around.' What wagner is doing with the conscripted prisoners is particularly egregious in its brutality and lack of value in military terms. Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Oct 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 03:20
|
|
|
Herstory Begins Now posted:Also I don't think it gets remarked on enough: this war is being used by Russian MoD as a way of getting rid of a ton of people that it either finds undesirable (prisoners) or potential rivals (Chechens, Wagner especially, PMCs in general). A lot of the accounts of how the least desirable troops are used describe stuff that is everything short of just machine gunning them yourself, eg 'assault this field with no artillery or air support, little ammo, and no there's no intel about where or how many enemy might be around.' What wagner is doing with the conscripted prisoners is particularly egregious in its brutality and lack of value in military terms. We sure that's just not how the Russian military operates in general? Would be curious to see if there's any correlation between units being told to do suicidal things and where the troops came from.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 03:32
|
|
|
WarpedLichen posted:We sure that's just not how the Russian military operates in general? Would be curious to see if there's any correlation between units being told to do suicidal things and where the troops came from. The article from Rueters cinci posted and I excerpted earlier today includes the description of a platoon commander that refused the order to do a suicide charge into artillery fire during the Ukrainian push through Kharkiv Oblast, along with other questionable command decisions. So it seems like it's probably not super uncommon
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 03:36
|
|
|
WarpedLichen posted:We sure that's just not how the Russian military operates in general? Would be curious to see if there's any correlation between units being told to do suicidal things and where the troops came from. No not every unit is being told to suicidally charge positions. Most of the more prestigious units that keep getting brutalized are just getting wiped out because Ukraine overpowers them or surrounds them. It's currently a scandal that one of the prestigious spetsnaz brigades was used in a cannon fodder role. To some extent throwing people you don't care about into the meat grinder is how Russia fights wars, I'm suggesting that it increasingly looks like there are some fairly clear lines defining who gets told to go walk down a street that they know Ukraine is watching Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Oct 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 03:38
|
|
|
WarpedLichen posted:We sure that's just not how the Russian military operates in general? Would be curious to see if there's any correlation between units being told to do suicidal things and where the troops came from. There have been reports that a lot of VDV are pissed about some of the meatgrinders they've been getting blindly ordered into. I would think that the MoD would consider them more of an asset than a liability, so I'm not sure that fits the idea that they're selectively liquidating unreliable segments of the military.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 03:42
|
|
|
the holy poopacy posted:There have been reports that a lot of VDV are pissed about some of the meatgrinders they've been getting blindly ordered into. I would think that the MoD would consider them more of an asset than a liability, so I'm not sure that fits the idea that they're selectively liquidating unreliable segments of the military. the current scandal is specifically a spetsnaz brigade and the fact that it is a scandal on a level far beyond the countless other people told to walk into machineguns and artillery is the whole point. From the neo-nazi perspective: Russia gets a golden opportunity here to get rid of what they perceive to be societal dead-weight, eg drug addicts, career criminals, people with hiv or hepatitis, sex offenders, minorities, and so on. Or, continuing that line of thought, better yet, turn them into Ukraine's problem for the cost of just a uniform and a lovely old rifle. Wagner in particular is balls deep in neo-nazi poo poo and I wouldn't put that past them whatsoever. Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Oct 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 03:49
|
|
|
Anders Puck Nielson dropped a new vid. Solid 9 minute overview of both side's general goals during the winter. He was much more optimistic during the Spring and Summer, but sounds rather cautious this go around. Summary of Goals Russia: Hold the line, train troops for Spring offensive, and try to drum up domestic support Ukraine: Continue offensive during winter, hamper logistics, continue to win war of attrition
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 04:26
|
|
|
MikeC posted:Slight OT, I noticed that the quoted tweet has Prigozhin's name as Yevgeny Viktorovich. I understand that Viktorovich is the guy's father's name and is an informal version of Prigozhin's name? Why would a news agency use that instead of his formal last name? Other way around. First name + patronymic[1] is a *formal* form of address for Russian --- that's how you would talk to your schoolteachers, for example; last name alone can be all sorts of weird and informal, though the details of that are pretty subtle and highly dependent on circumstances, relationship, etc. [1] His father's name was apparently Viktor; Viktorovych is a patronymic denoting that (plus that he is a dude, a lady would be Viktorovna). You may have seen similar stuff in e.g. Icelandic with -son or -dottir. OddObserver fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Oct 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 05:38
|
|
|
MikeC posted:Slight OT, I noticed that the quoted tweet has Prigozhin's name as Yevgeny Viktorovich. I understand that Viktorovich is the guy's father's name and is an informal version of Prigozhin's name? Why would a news agency use that instead of his formal last name? It's a formal and generally respectful (but can sometimes be used sarcastically) way to address someone who demands respect but is also familiar. Often used to refer to superiors. Putin is often called Vladimir Vladimirovich for example, dropping his surname. Everyone will know the speaker means Putin from the context.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 06:43
|
|
|
Herstory Begins Now posted:From the neo-nazi perspective: Russia gets a golden opportunity here to get rid of what they perceive to be societal dead-weight, eg drug addicts, career criminals, people with hiv or hepatitis, sex offenders, minorities, and so on. Or, continuing that line of thought, better yet, turn them into Ukraine's problem for the cost of just a uniform and a lovely old rifle. Wagner in particular is balls deep in neo-nazi poo poo and I wouldn't put that past them whatsoever. I think you give Russia too much credit. There is no plan. This is not what they wanted. Things are just going to poo poo all around. And individuals pulling power/survival moves in the chaos
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 09:39
|
|
|
https://mobile.twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1585532677268148224 Negotiations pls
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 10:04
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 21:49 |
|
|
Somaen posted:https://mobile.twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1585532677268148224 Russia's been doing a lot of PR in Africa and this was certainly to make it look to the audience how reasonable wise-man Putin is and that it's just the NATO puppet nazi Zelensky refusing to stop the war. E: lol typo mobby_6kl fucked around with this message at 10:18 on Oct 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 10:06
|
|