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What is the most powerful flying bug?
This poll is closed.
🦋 15 3.71%
🦇 115 28.47%
🪰 12 2.97%
🐦 67 16.58%
dragonfly 94 23.27%
🦟 14 3.47%
🐝 87 21.53%
Total: 404 votes
[Edit Poll (moderators only)]

 
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Nix Panicus
Feb 25, 2007

Lostconfused posted:

There's some real dissonance in the West treating it like a proxy war that it is but presenting it like some existential conflict in the news.

Yeah, its real weird the way people smoothly transition from 'Russia is genociding Ukraine!' to 'Ukraine is beating Russia with NATO's old cast offs' as though those two statements aren't completely insane when juxtaposed

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fizzy
Dec 2, 2022

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Nix Panicus posted:

Yeah, its real weird the way people smoothly transition from 'Russia is genociding Ukraine!' to 'Ukraine is beating Russia with NATO's old cast offs' as though those two statements aren't completely insane when juxtaposed

"Russia intends to genocide Ukraine, but Ukraine is ably defending itself with the arms supplied by its NATO allies and preventing Russia from carrying out its genocidal plans" is straightforward, consistent, and supported by the facts.

But it's no surprise that tankies are either too disingenuous to acknowledge this or too stupid to understand this.

Endman
May 18, 2010

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even anime may die


I was trawling around the internet for Cold War German photographs and I found this great US Army diagram:



I love the idyllic German farmhouse on the Western side, and the eeeeevil Communist watchtower on the Eastern side, with what could either be treestumps or corpses bicycles on the ground.

fizzy
Dec 2, 2022

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Good news for Ukraine - Ukrainian forces achieved successes and advances in the directions of Bakhmut, Berdyansk and Melitopol


https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-30-2023

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, JULY 30, 2023

Ukrainian forces conducted counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and made claimed advances in some areas.

Ukrainian military sources reported that Ukrainian forces are achieving small successes on the southern flank of Bakhmut and are gradually advancing in the Berdyansk (western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhia Oblast area) and Melitopol (in western Zaporizhia Oblast) directions.[9]

fizzy
Dec 2, 2022

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Good news for people who do not like it when civilian stuff go boom - It's natural and fair that the war is returning to Russian territory, and the whole point is to make the war to affect those who were not concerned.


https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-drones-hit-moscow-zelensky-says-war-gradually-returning-to-russia/

Ukraine war latest: Drones hit Moscow, Zelensky says war 'gradually returning' to Russia
by Daria Shulzhenko and The Kyiv Independent news desk
July 31, 2023 12:43 AM

Three drones attacked Moscow in the early morning of July 30, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed.

Two of the drones hit buildings in Moscow, while one was destroyed over the Odintsovsky district of the Moscow region, the ministry claimed.

Following the attack, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that the facade of two buildings in the "Moscow City" business district was "insignificantly damaged."

Photos from the spot showed substantial damage to several building floors.

According to the independent Russian media outlet The Insider, the offices of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Digital Development, as well as the Federal Agency for Nationalities, and several other agencies were located in the building hit by drones.

A local Telegram channel also posted photographs of the documents allegedly belonging to the Russian Ministry of Digital Development found on the nearby streets following the attack.

Although Sobyanin claimed there were no casualties, the Russian Defense Ministry said one person was injured due to the attack.

Russia claimed Ukraine was responsible for the attack.

In a video message on July 30, President Volodymyr Zelensky said it's "natural and fair" that the war is returning to Russian territory.

"Ukraine is becoming stronger. The war is gradually returning to Russian territory – to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process," Zelensky said.

He did not, however, clarify what he meant by the war "returning to Russian territory."

"Russian aggression has suffered bankruptcy on the battlefield," he said. "Today is the 522 day of (Russia's) so-called 'special military operation,' which the Russian leadership expected to last a week or two."

Yurii Ihnat, the Ukrainian Air Force's spokesperson, also commented on the attack, saying the drones aimed to affect Russians who felt that the all-out war was distant.

"There's always something flying in Russia, as well as in Moscow. Now the war is affecting those who were not concerned," Ihnat said.

axelord
Dec 28, 2012

College Slice

fizzy posted:

"Russia intends to genocide Ukraine, but Ukraine is ably defending itself with the arms supplied by its NATO allies and preventing Russia from carrying out its genocidal plans" is straightforward, consistent, and supported by the facts.

But it's no surprise that tankies are either too disingenuous to acknowledge this or too stupid to understand this.

Shouldn't you sound happier with all the good news for Ukraine?

It comes off as disingenuous if you are sharing all this good news for Ukraine but you are deeply angry about it.

It's almost like good news for Ukraine makes you mad... could you be a secret Putin lover?

It's ok this is a safe place we won't judge you here.

Nix Panicus
Feb 25, 2007

axelord posted:

It's ok this is a safe place we won't judge you here.

I will

supersnowman
Oct 3, 2012

Frosted Flake posted:

Surely they don’t let them connect to any websites? I defer to the IT professionals ITT, but I thought it was intranet like DWAN?

They could lock it all trough mobile device management but I doubt they do have such tight control unless they made sure the app they need won't work if the hardware isn't registered on the MDM so it can apply locking settings to prevent internet access and other such things.

Clip-On Fedora
Feb 20, 2011

Russians are genocidal madmen which is why we have to genocide them all before they genocide THE WHOLE WORLD

Shear Modulus
Jun 9, 2010



Nix Panicus posted:

I take it the US is eagerly taking notes and trying to work out how much decision making they can offload to a trailer in Ohio while disposable robot dogs sweep the battlefield

what the military really wants are AI robot dogs

CODChimera
Jan 29, 2009

good news for ukraine - the war is coming to moscow soon

https://www.barrons.com/news/zelensky-says-war-coming-to-russia-after-moscow-drone-attack-2895a4ea

speng31b
May 8, 2010

Clip-On Fedora posted:

Russians are genocidal madmen which is why we have to genocide them all before they genocide THE WHOLE WORLD

only thing that can stop a bad guy with a genocide is a good guy with a genocide

BULBASAUR
Apr 6, 2009




Soiled Meat
Bad news for the thread: fizzy is posting again

V. Illych L.
Apr 11, 2008

ASK ME ABOUT LUMBER

Lostconfused posted:

There's some real dissonance in the West treating it like a proxy war that it is but presenting it like some existential conflict in the news.

the discrepancy between communicated state posture and actual policy is at a level not seen since environmental policy. if there's a ukrainian state collapse and russian military victory at some point it's going to be interesting/depressing to see how people deal with it. the only coherent way i can think of is to blame the ukrainians somehow, but idk how easy that would be after fanatically lionising them for years

V. Illych L.
Apr 11, 2008

ASK ME ABOUT LUMBER

BULBASAUR posted:

Bad news for the thread: fizzy is posting again

fizzy's ok you baby

KomradeX
Oct 29, 2011

We've seen the blueprint for it. It's blading them that they couldn't adapt NATO tactics and instead used inferior Soviet training to try and fight the Russians

fizzy
Dec 2, 2022

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Good news for Ukraine - Russia is not invited to the Ukraine-organised peace summit to be hosted by Saudi Arabia in early August, another sign of Russia's ever-deepening diplomatic isolation and Ukraine's ever-growing roster of allies and supporters


https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...f08db2904abce0f

Saudis to host Ukraine peace summit – officials
1h ago
06.35 BST

Saudi Arabia will host a Ukraine-organised peace summit in early August seeking to find a way to start negotiations over Russia’s war on the country, officials have said.

Associated Press reported the summit would be held in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, citing one of the officials. Russia was not invited, said the official, who spoke early on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

Hours later, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, confirmed the talks would be held in Saudi Arabia, without naming Jeddah as the location.

He said a Ukrainian peace formula containing 10 fundamental points “should be taken as a basis, because the war is taking place on our land”. Kyiv has described the formula as including the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression.

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

BULBASAUR posted:

Bad news for the thread: fizzy is posting again

:wrong:

V. Illych L.
Apr 11, 2008

ASK ME ABOUT LUMBER

KomradeX posted:

We've seen the blueprint for it. It's blading them that they couldn't adapt NATO tactics and instead used inferior Soviet training to try and fight the Russians

i agree, but this is going to work only for the more casual ukraine fans. the hard-core supporters - the "genocide is ongoing and russia is a fascist state" crowd - don't really have an obvious way out of the predicament of a failure of western policy here. there would have to be either a total disillusionment with ukraine (difficult to imagine), a home-brewed stab-in-the-back myth where "we" didn't properly commit due to our own cowardice and possibly exaggerated stories of internal dissension, or some kind of narrative collapse. none of these options would look very pretty.

Cerebral Bore
Apr 21, 2010


Fun Shoe
the shitlibs will mill around in confusion for about a week while the new talking points are being workshopped and will then pretend that those are what they believed all along

fizzy
Dec 2, 2022

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Bad news for tankies fantasizing about how Ukraine-supporters will blame Ukraine for losing the war - Ukraine is winning so there's nothing to blame them for, and furthermore all reputable sources agree that Ukraine is fighting the war in a nimble, agile and clever manner


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/russia-ukraine-woke-military-tucker-carlson/671569/

What Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson Don’t Understand About War
By Phillips Payson O’Brien
28 September 2022

... More than seven months into the war, the Ukrainian army continues to grow in strength, confidence, and operational competence, while the Russian army is flailing. Its recent failures raise many questions about the nature of military power. Before Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine, many analysts described his military as fast and powerful and predicted that it would “shock and awe” the overmatched defenders. The Ukrainian armed forces were widely assumed to be incapable of fighting the mighty Russians out in the open; their only option, the story went, would be to retreat into their cities and wage a form of guerrilla war against the invaders.

The success of the Ukrainian military over the past few months, along with the evolution of the Ukrainian state itself toward a more tolerant, more liberal norm, reveals what makes a better army in the modern world. Brains mean more than brawn, and adaptability means more than mindless aggression. Openness to new ideas and new equipment, along with the ability to learn quickly, is far more important than a simple desire to kill.

From the moment the Russian military crossed the border, the Ukrainians have outfought it, revealing it to be inflexible and intellectually vapid. Indeed when confronted with a Ukrainian military that was everything it was not — smart, adaptable, and willing to learn — the Russian army could only fall back on slow, massed firepower. The Battle of the Donbas, the war’s longest engagement, which started in late April and is still under way, exposed the Russian army at its worst. For months, it directed the bulk of personnel and equipment toward the center of a battle line running approximately from Izyum to Donetsk. Instead of breaking through Ukrainian lines and sending armored forces streaking forward rapidly, as many analysts had predicted, the Russian army opted to make painfully slow, incremental advances, by simply blasting the area directly in front of it. The plan seemed to be to render the area uninhabitable by Ukrainians, which would allow the Russians to advance intermittently into the vacuum. This was heavy-firepower, low-intelligence warfare on a grand scale, which resulted in strategically meaningless advances secured at the cost of unsustainably high Russian casualties. And in recent weeks, the Ukrainians have retaken much of the territory that Russia managed to seize at the start of the battle—and more.

The Ukrainians are trying, albeit with far fewer advantages, to do to Russia what the U.S. and the U.K. did to Germany. Ukrainian forces have learned to skillfully use advanced weaponry—in this case NATO-standard systems such as HIMARS and HARM missiles—to neutralize the brute strength of the Russian army. They have accomplished this because Ukrainian society is more flexible, technologically conversant, and willing to learn than the Russian invaders are. They have shown more cleverness and wisdom, and over time that advantage has allowed them to start taking the initiative.


https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2023/02/16/a-year-ago-i-volunteered-as-a-soldier-in-the-ukrainian-army/index.html

A year ago I volunteered as a soldier in the Ukrainian army\
Pavlo Kazarin
16 February 2023

“Good businesspeople make good commanders” is an expression I heard three times: first in Donetsk Oblast from a battalion commander, then near Zaporizhzhia from a recce platoon sergeant, and finally near Kharkiv from a man who was number 88 on the Forbes list of the 100 richest Ukrainians. All three of them had had businesses before the war and all three were good commanders.

Over the past year, the Ukrainian army has grown to be at least three times larger. For every professional service member, there are two or three newly mobilised ones. People bring knowledge and skills from their civilian professions into the army. As no one had got round to telling them “It cannot be done” they set about creating new ways of solving problems, inventing processes and things that showed “Ah, actually it can”.

To get that effect, the army needed horizontal structures, motivation and bottom-up initiative. This is how mobilisation made the Ukrainian army stronger, and why we can tell it didn’t do the same for the Russian army. Russia’s mobilised forces are, still, just cannon fodder.

There is a common saying in Ukraine: “A little Soviet army cannot defeat a big Soviet army”. But everything that has happened in the past year goes to prove that ‘Soviet’ is a really bad description of the Ukrainian army. It has made itself flexible, resourceful and adaptive. It has become an army that can not only defend but also counterattack. And, as armies reflect societies, we can see that Ukrainian society is also completely different from Russian society. Russia is trying to recreate the politics of a previous era, behaving like we all live during the colonial era. The fight we see being fought is not East against West or even Russia against Ukraine. As of 24 February 2022, the past is at war with the future.


https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/russia-ukraine-war-lumbering-agile

Agile Ukraine, Lumbering Russia
The Promise and Limits of Military Adaptation
March 28, 2023

During more than 13 months of war against one of the world’s largest armies, Ukraine’s military has continually stood out for one quality in particular: its ability to adapt. Over and over, Ukraine has nimbly responded to changing battlefield dynamics and exploited emerging technologies to capitalize on Russia’s mistakes.

Despite their limited experience with advanced weapons technology, Ukrainian soldiers quickly graduated from point-and-shoot Javelin and Stinger missile systems to the more sophisticated High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which they have used to pummel Russian command centers, logistical assets, and ammunition depots.

They have deployed military and commercial drones in increasingly creative ways.

And although this is not the first war to play out on social media, the Ukrainians have been giving the world a master class in effective information operations in the digital age.

Such is their record of technical and tactical versatility that Ukrainian forces continue to enjoy a sense of momentum, despite the fact that the frontlines have been largely frozen for months.


https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-counteroffensive-putin-wagner-2c4923f665e5aab927073dc86ed3f1be

Ukraine aims to wear down and outsmart a Russian army distracted by infighting
BY SAMYA KULLAB
Published 12:29 PM GMT+8, June 30, 2023

For the past four days, Ukraine has stepped up operations around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Wagner forces seized after months of intense fighting and then handed over to Russian soldiers, who continue to lose some ground on their southern flank.

Along the front line, however, the strength of the Russian military remains unchanged since the revolt.

It is not clear where Ukraine will attempt to decisively punch through, but any success will rely on newly formed, Western-equipped brigades that are not yet deployed. For now, Russia’s deeply fortified positions and relative air superiority are slowing Ukraine’s advance.

Military experts say it is hard to say who has the advantage: Russia is dug-in with manpower and ammunition, while Ukraine is versatile, equipped with modern weaponry and clever on the battlefield.

tristeham
Jul 31, 2022
nimbleness is key

DancingShade
Jul 26, 2007

by Fluffdaddy

fizzy posted:

Good news for Ukraine - Russia is not invited to the Ukraine-organised peace summit to be hosted by Saudi Arabia in early August, another sign of Russia's ever-deepening diplomatic isolation and Ukraine's ever-growing roster of allies and supporters


https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...f08db2904abce0f

Saudis to host Ukraine peace summit – officials
1h ago
06.35 BST

Saudi Arabia will host a Ukraine-organised peace summit in early August seeking to find a way to start negotiations over Russia’s war on the country, officials have said.

Associated Press reported the summit would be held in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, citing one of the officials. Russia was not invited, said the official, who spoke early on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

Hours later, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, confirmed the talks would be held in Saudi Arabia, without naming Jeddah as the location.

He said a Ukrainian peace formula containing 10 fundamental points “should be taken as a basis, because the war is taking place on our land”. Kyiv has described the formula as including the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and a tribunal for those responsible for the aggression.

So basically a small barking dog with no bite.

Fortaleza
Feb 21, 2008

Fighting a war like a cat all nimbly bimbly from tree to tree

DancingShade
Jul 26, 2007

by Fluffdaddy
The Ukraine delegate should turn up in a cargo plane and drive a Tiger I mean a Leopard to the event while wearing crumpled green pants & t-shirt.

CODChimera
Jan 29, 2009

V. Illych L. posted:

i agree, but this is going to work only for the more casual ukraine fans. the hard-core supporters - the "genocide is ongoing and russia is a fascist state" crowd - don't really have an obvious way out of the predicament of a failure of western policy here. there would have to be either a total disillusionment with ukraine (difficult to imagine), a home-brewed stab-in-the-back myth where "we" didn't properly commit due to our own cowardice and possibly exaggerated stories of internal dissension, or some kind of narrative collapse. none of these options would look very pretty.

plus there's whatever the ukranians say. somehow i doubt zelenskyys gonna lose quietly or blame it on soviet training

comedyblissoption
Mar 15, 2006

V. Illych L. posted:

i agree, but this is going to work only for the more casual ukraine fans. the hard-core supporters - the "genocide is ongoing and russia is a fascist state" crowd - don't really have an obvious way out of the predicament of a failure of western policy here. there would have to be either a total disillusionment with ukraine (difficult to imagine), a home-brewed stab-in-the-back myth where "we" didn't properly commit due to our own cowardice and possibly exaggerated stories of internal dissension, or some kind of narrative collapse. none of these options would look very pretty.
donald trump, mtg, and tucker carlson lost the war

Mantis42
Jul 26, 2010

well hopefully if the russians win they'll just randomly stop genociding ukrainians and send relief like the last time they genocided ukrainians

Al-Saqr
Nov 11, 2007

One Day I Will Return To Your Side.
the soviets are so bloodthirsty and genocidal they eliminated famine in the country shortly after WW2 in 1947 despite losing 20 million people to an apocalyptic actual genocidal war a few years before.

Starsfan
Sep 29, 2007

This is what happens when you disrespect Cam Neely

Mantis42 posted:

well hopefully if the russians win they'll just randomly stop genociding ukrainians and send relief like the last time they genocided ukrainians

on the one hand the Russians have only grown more evil in the intervening 90 years and have already attempted to genocide the Ukrainians in the portions of the country that have come under their control, but on the other hand the Russians are the most hopelessly incompetent government that has ever existed so there's a good chance they'll fail again.

genericnick
Dec 26, 2012

V. Illych L. posted:

the discrepancy between communicated state posture and actual policy is at a level not seen since environmental policy. if there's a ukrainian state collapse and russian military victory at some point it's going to be interesting/depressing to see how people deal with it. the only coherent way i can think of is to blame the ukrainians somehow, but idk how easy that would be after fanatically lionising them for years

Stabbed in the back by the evil tankies would be my guess.

Endman
May 18, 2010

That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even anime may die


The classic blunder of teaching Baltic people how to read so they can write how much they hate you in their newspapers

genericnick
Dec 26, 2012

genericnick posted:

Stabbed in the back by the evil tankies would be my guess.

Remember how there is this big story line about all the CRIME happening because the police was defunded due to BLM protests? If you can sell that then you can sell that Ukraine failed because red-brown tankies didn't let NATO countries send the help they needed.

fizzy
Dec 2, 2022

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Bad news for tankies fantasizing that Ukraine supporters will blame Ukraine's "failure" on tankies not letting NATO countries send the help they need - Ukraine is winning so there's no "failure" for which "blame" needs to be pinned, and furthermore NATO already gave Ukraine the resources it needs to recapture territory occupied by Russia


https://kyivindependent.com/blinken-ukraine-has-everything-it/

Blinken: Ukraine has everything it needs to retake occupied territory
by The Kyiv Independent news desk
May 9, 2023 11:36 PM

Ukraine has the resources it needs to recapture territory occupied by Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on May 9.

"They have in place ... what they need to continue to be successful in regaining territory that was seized by force by Russia over the last 14 months," Blinken said during a press conference with U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, as quoted by CNN.

According to Blinken, this preparedness pertains not only to the weaponry added to Ukraine's arsenal but the training of Ukrainian soldiers, adding that "it's important, of course, that they have the right plans, again, to be successful."

The Pentagon announced on May 9 that it would provide an additional $1.2 billion security assistance package to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

The latest security assistance package includes additional air defense systems and munitions, 155mm artillery rounds, and equipment to integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukraine's air defense systems.

Additionally, the package includes ammunition for counter-unmanned air systems, commercial satellite imagery services, as well as support for training, maintenance, and sustainment activities, the Pentagon wrote.

The outcome of the anticipated counteroffensive is expected to be a critical turning point in the war that will determine whether Kyiv reclaims more of its territory or is pressured by allies to meet with Russia at the negotiating table.

Speaking during a joint press conference on May 4 with the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Belgium, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "We think about how to prepare for a counteroffensive, but we don't think that we might not succeed. This is not our way."

Zedhe Khoja
Nov 10, 2017

sürgünden selamlar
yıkıcılar ulusuna

lumpentroll posted:

i’m glad he’s dead

Az took my side when the nod forum was talking about permaing me over the pharohman777 kerfluffle. can’t be all bad, even if he was a mod

Jon Pod Van Damm
Apr 6, 2009

THE POSSESSION OF WEALTH IS IN AND OF ITSELF A SIGN OF POOR VIRTUE. AS SUCH:
1 NEVER TRUST ANY RICH PERSON.
2 NEVER HIRE ANY RICH PERSON.
BY RULE 1, IT IS APPROPRIATE TO PRESUME THAT ALL DEGREES AND CREDENTIALS HELD BY A WEALTHY PERSON ARE FRAUDULENT. THIS JUSTIFIES RULE 2--RULE 1 NEEDS NO JUSTIFIC



In a year they'll be able to blame Donald The Dove.

Slavvy
Dec 11, 2012

Zedhe Khoja posted:

Az took my side when the nod forum

I thought this was the brotherhood of nod forum

Danann
Aug 4, 2013

Уголок Ситха posted:


(Click thumbnail to open video)
Вечернее закатное. Дрон-камикадзе "Ланцет" полетел на охоту😎
#сво #бпла
(from t.me/Ugolok_Sitha/15268, via tgsa)

the americans used a bespoke mortar to launch switchblades

the russians used a catapult to launch lancets

fizzy
Dec 2, 2022

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Bad news for Russia - Ukraine's snipers are absolutely badass and are bringing terror to Russia's forces in Bakhmut, with 524 confirmed kills between them.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66354363

Ukraine war: 'People call us the Ghosts of Bakhmut'
By Jonathan Beale, defence correspondent
3 hours ago

Ukrainian forces are trying to retake the city of Bakhmut in the country's east. The BBC was given exclusive access to a team of elite snipers, referred to as "the Ghosts of Bakhmut", who are conducting night raids nearby.

Ghost, the sniping team's commander, takes us to the place he calls the "edge of existence" - their base on the outskirts of the city.

"Ghost is my call sign" he tells me. "When we started bringing terror to Bakhmut, we got the name 'the Ghosts of Bakhmut'."

Their base is already well within the range of Russian artillery. Ghost doesn't flinch at the crump of a shell landing nearby. "The artillery always makes people worry," he says. "You can hide from artillery, but not from a sniper".

The Ghosts, a team of around 20 soldiers, have been operating on the edges of Bakhmut for the past six months. They often hunt for high-value targets.

I ask Ghost how many Russians his team have killed. He says, "there's a confirmed number - 524. Seventy-six of those are mine". The team electronically records every shot through the sights of their rifle.

Not everyone's keeping count though. Kuzia, the marksman for tonight's mission, says "it's nothing to be proud of. We're not killing people, we're destroying the enemy".

Before the war he worked in a factory. He says he never liked guns, but felt compelled to take up arms when Russia invaded.

Kuzia does one final check of his US-made Barrett sniper rifle: "Each mission is dangerous, when we make a mistake the enemy can hit you," he says. "Of course I'm scared - only a fool wouldn't be."

On tonight's mission he'll be accompanied by Taras, his spotter. Kusch is the driver - who'll bring them as close as possible to the front line. From there the two-man team will have to walk more than a mile to reach their target. Ghost will remain back at the base, along with the rookie, known simply as the Brit.

The youngest member of the team got the name after receiving his initial training in the UK. He's yet to have his first confirmed kill.

Ghost says he's handpicked every member of the team based on their "humanity and patriotism" rather than their military experience and skills.

As dusk approaches the team climbs into their armoured Humvee. I, and cameraman Moose Campbell, will accompany them to the drop-off point.

Kusch, the driver, tells us that part of the route is still being targeted by Russian artillery.

As he starts the engine the team all give themselves the sign of the cross. Kusch starts to play some music from his phone. He says the Ukrainian rap song gets them in the mood. But it'll also mask the sound of the shelling.

At first it's hard to hear the explosions nearby because of the rattle of the Humvee, which Kusch drives at speed over pot-holed tracks. But he points to the sky several times and warns, "incoming". There are a few thuds nearby.

We pass half a dozen wrecked Ukrainian armoured vehicles that weren't so fortunate. Kusch points to minefields on either side of the dirt track.

Twenty minutes later we come to an abrupt halt close to a ruined house. The two-man sniper team open the doors and disappear towards a tree line. Kusch shouts out, "God be with you" before making a fast exit.

As we return there's a flash of orange and a louder explosion. The Humvee starts to rattle even more. Kusch opens his door, while driving, to look behind and lets out a stream of swear words.

A piece of shrapnel has shredded one of the back tyres. It's a nerve-wracking hobble back to base. When we finally return he shows us the large piece of jagged metal which tore apart the tyre.

It's now dark and the shelling has subsided. Inside their base they anxiously hold on to their radios for news from the sniper team. Kusch and the Brit pace the floor.

Ghost makes a phone call to his seven-year-old daughter. She's on speaker when she excitedly shouts, "I love you daddy". It's a brief burst of normality - but he's already taught her how to strip a gun.

Seven hours later, with little sleep, it's time for the extraction. We shelter in the building while there's a volley of incendiary fire, and then make our way back into the Humvee.

This time it's dark, but Kusch tries to drive from memory - avoiding turning on the headlights to attract attention. Another abrupt halt and the two-man sniper team gets back inside the Humvee.

The relief is palpable when we get back to their base.

Kuzia says: "One shot, one target."

Later they show us the video from the night-scope. They say it was a Russian machine-gunner who'd been firing at Ukrainian troops near the front line.

They'll rest now until the next night's mission. Kuzia says: "I'm happy to be back and happy that everyone's alive".

Over the past six months several of the team have been injured, including the commander Ghost. But none of them have been killed.

Ghost says "every trip may be our last, but we're doing a noble deed".

One small team of snipers won't win this war, or even take back Bakhmut. But they believe they're having an impact.

Kusch says it has a psychological effect on their enemy - hunting down one Russian soldier at a time from a place that can't be seen and with a sound that can't be heard.

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gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy
Good news for Ukraine: their armed forces are slowly all being turned into Ghosts ... of Kyiv ... of Bakhmut .. and in general

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