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What is the most powerful flying bug? This poll is closed. |
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| 🦋 |
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15 | 3.71% |
| 🦇 |
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115 | 28.47% |
| 🪰 |
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12 | 2.97% |
| 🐦 |
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67 | 16.58% |
| dragonfly |
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94 | 23.27% |
| 🦟 |
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14 | 3.47% |
| 🐝 |
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87 | 21.53% |
| Total: | 404 votes | ||
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they should sit their goon asses down and listen.
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Aug 23, 2023 03:33
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The spate of tweets in the past two days "We're not military experts, who's to say things aren't going well? We should be optimistic until events play out." is delusional. It's not a negative narrative clouding a good situation, it's a manufactured narrative hitting reality and people scrambling.
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Aug 23, 2023 03:39
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if we go by the ones that post on twitter or as unnamed sources for the NYT and WaPO, the west no longer has military experts. They all said Russia would collapse in the first month of the war and then gave up when that didn't happen. I mean I get the real reason, there are people that know exactly what's going on but these people are not allowed to speak. I guess they are just saving everything for a future book release.
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Aug 23, 2023 03:49
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Regarde Aduck posted:if we go by the ones that post on twitter or as unnamed sources for the NYT and WaPO, the west no longer has military experts. They all said Russia would collapse in the first month of the war and then gave up when that didn't happen. I mean I get the real reason, there are people that know exactly what's going on but these people are not allowed to speak. I guess they are just saving everything for a future book release. didn't FF say something like there was a perceptible point where all the war journals like CSIS and ISW went full slava propaganda and stopped being even remotely objective?
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Aug 23, 2023 03:53
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Good news for Ukraine - Ukraine has made progress in its shifting of goal-posts and counteroffensive against Russian forces simply by proving it can push back a better-armed and numerically superior enemy - Ukraine has made progress in its counteroffensive against Russian forces simply by proving it can push back a better-armed and numerically superior enemy, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday. - But Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar brushed aside any suggestion that Kyiv’s progress was too slow, and said Ukraine had effectively defied military doctrine by attacking an enemy that has a numerical advantage in manpower and weaponry. - “It’s incorrect to measure this advance by metres or kilometres,” Maliar said in an interview. “What’s important is the very fact that despite everything, we’re moving forward even though we have fewer people and fewer weapons.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-war-putin-drone-strike-latest-b2397018.html#post-1294742 Ukraine defies odds by advancing in counteroffensive Ukraine has made progress in its counteroffensive against Russian forces simply by proving it can push back a better-armed and numerically superior enemy, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday. Ukrainian troops have faced vast Russian minefields and trenches in the counteroffensive launched in early June, and a US official said last week it looked unlikely that Kyiv would be able to recapture the strategic southern city of Melitopol. But Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar brushed aside any suggestion that Kyiv’s progress was too slow, and said Ukraine had effectively defied military doctrine by attacking an enemy that has a numerical advantage in manpower and weaponry. “It’s incorrect to measure this advance by metres or kilometres,” Maliar said in an interview. “What’s important is the very fact that despite everything, we’re moving forward even though we have fewer people and fewer weapons.” She said she was unaware of any Western pressure being exerted on Ukraine‘s military to accelerate operations, and challenged the idea of a universally “correct” tempo.
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Aug 23, 2023 04:00
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Bad news for Ukraine - The Western establishment media continues its pivot towards the Western establishment cutting its losses on Ukraine - after two months of hard fighting, substantial casualties and minimal gains since the long-awaited counteroffensive began - Still, the offensive has been a difficult slog for Kyiv. - Moscow has built a series of trenches, tank traps and other barriers between Robotyne and Tokmak, which could make the next phase of the fighting even more difficult for Ukraine. Without sufficient air defenses that would allow Ukraine’s air force to provide soldiers with cover as they advance, Ukrainian units have suffered attacks from Russian helicopters. Ukraine has seized just a handful of villages along the southern front in the two months since the offensive began. - “These Ukrainian troops are being sent to do something we’d never do—launching a counteroffensive without total air superiority,” said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. - The counteroffensive began disastrously for the 47th Brigade—one of Ukraine’s newly formed units, which was provided with Western tanks and trained in Europe this spring. At the start of June, as the brigade pushed south from Orikhiv, a number of its Western-armored vehicles were trapped in minefields; some were lost. - “At the start, we thought we could take our fist and hit them with all our strength, and we almost broke our hand,” one soldier from the 47th Brigade said recently. He added that the brigade has gained experience, especially with demining, and is proceeding more methodically—but taking heavy casualties. - “It’s a very big price,” he said. “Lots of injuries. Lots of new people. Not a lot of time to prepare.” https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/ukraine-chalks-up-small-advance-in-southern-push-8735d44c Ukraine Chalks Up Small Advance in Southern Push By Ian Lovett Updated Aug. 22, 2023 3:53 pm ET ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—Ukrainian forces said they had seized the village of Robotyne, taking another small step in Kyiv’s efforts to cut through Russian defenses in southern Ukraine. Robotyne’s capture by Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade on Tuesday gives Kyiv something to celebrate, after two months of hard fighting, substantial casualties and minimal gains since the long-awaited counteroffensive began. About 9 miles south of Orikhiv, where Ukrainian forces began their march south, Robotyne is within about 14 miles of Tokmak, a key crossroads on the way south toward Melitopol, which is the biggest Russian-occupied city in the Zaporizhzhia region. Kyiv is hoping its troops can reach the Sea of Azov during the counteroffensive and bisect Russian forces. Moscow holds about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including the southern Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014 and which has served as an important base for launching its military operations in the rest of Ukraine. Though fighting continues in the east of the country—and Russians have launched their own offensive in the Kharkiv region to take territory that Ukraine reclaimed last fall—both sides are concentrating the bulk of their troops in the south, which analysts see as the strategic key. If Ukrainian forces can punch through to the Sea of Azov, they’ll sever the land bridge connecting Russia to Crimea, making it difficult for Moscow to supply its forces in the Kherson region, to the west of Robotyne. Kyiv has also been targeting Russian supply lines; in recent weeks, it hit the Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to Russia, as well as a bridge that connects Crimea to mainland Ukraine. Still, the offensive has been a difficult slog for Kyiv. Moscow has built a series of trenches, tank traps and other barriers between Robotyne and Tokmak, which could make the next phase of the fighting even more difficult for Ukraine. Without sufficient air defenses that would allow Ukraine’s air force to provide soldiers with cover as they advance, Ukrainian units have suffered attacks from Russian helicopters. Ukraine has seized just a handful of villages along the southern front in the two months since the offensive began. “These Ukrainian troops are being sent to do something we’d never do—launching a counteroffensive without total air superiority,” said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe. Days ago, after months of pleas from Ukraine for fighter jets, the U.S. agreed to let allies transfer F-16s to Kyiv, and the Netherlands and Denmark collectively pledged to send more than 60 of them. However those jets aren’t expected to arrive for months. The counteroffensive began disastrously for the 47th Brigade—one of Ukraine’s newly formed units, which was provided with Western tanks and trained in Europe this spring. At the start of June, as the brigade pushed south from Orikhiv, a number of its Western-armored vehicles were trapped in minefields; some were lost. In the months since, Kyiv has adjusted its tactics, with infantry now leading the charge through minefields on foot and tanks supporting from behind, according to soldiers in several brigades fighting in the area. The arrival of American cluster munitions has also boosted the offensive, soldiers said. “At the start, we thought we could take our fist and hit them with all our strength, and we almost broke our hand,” one soldier from the 47th Brigade said recently. He added that the brigade has gained experience, especially with demining, and is proceeding more methodically—but taking heavy casualties. “It’s a very big price,” he said. “Lots of injuries. Lots of new people. Not a lot of time to prepare.” Videos posted by the 47th Brigade show civilians happily greeting the soldiers. They are now evacuating the civilians and evaluating them for injuries, the brigade said. Robotyne had several hundred residents before the war began. “Psychologically, it was very difficult,” said one 52-year-old woman from Robotyne on a video the brigade published on Tuesday. “We hoped and waited for ours to come…We waited for a long time, and today it happened.” The British Defense Ministry said a drone had likely destroyed a bomber jet at a Russian air base hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border. The Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE bomber that was likely hit has been used to fire inaccurate antiship missiles against Ukraine, the ministry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This is at least the third successful attack on LRA airfields, again raising questions about Russia’s ability to protect strategic locations deep inside the country,” the ministry wrote, referring to Russia’s Long Range Aviation (LRA). Meanwhile, Russia is attacking Ukrainian forces in northeastern Ukraine, attempting to regain area it lost to Kyiv last autumn, when Ukrainian forces took a swath of land around Kharkiv. Russia is on the offensive there, trying to advance on the city of Kupyansk, in a reflection of Moscow’s continued hopes of grabbing more Ukrainian territory, even as its own invasion stalls.
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Aug 23, 2023 04:05
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Bad news for Ukraine - Western establishment media (New York Times) continues its pivot towards the Western establishment cutting its losses on Ukraine. - Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive is struggling to break through entrenched Russian defenses in large part because it has too many troops, including some of its best combat units, in the wrong places, American and other Western officials say. - But instead of focusing on that, Ukrainian commanders have divided troops and firepower roughly equally between the east and the south, the U.S. officials said. - Nearly three months into the counteroffensive,... casualties continue to mount and Russia still holds an edge in troops and equipment. - But even the most experienced units have been reconstituted a number of times after taking heavy casualties. These units rely on a shrinking cadre of senior commanders. Some platoons are mostly staffed by soldiers who have been wounded and returned to fight. - A spokesman for the Ukrainian military did not respond to text messages or phone calls on Tuesday. - But some analysts say the progress may be too little too late. The fighting is taking place on mostly flat, unforgiving terrain, which favors the defenders. The Russians are battling from concealed positions that Ukrainian soldiers often see only when they are feet away. Hours after Ukrainians clear a field of mines, the Russians sometimes fire another rocket that disperses more of them at the same location. - But Ukraine and Russia fight under old Soviet Communist doctrine, which seeks to minimize rivalries among factions of the army by providing equal amounts of manpower and equipment across commands. Both armies have failed to prioritize their most important objectives, officials say. - Ukraine’s continued focus on Bakhmut, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the war, has perplexed U.S. intelligence and military officials. Ukraine has invested huge amounts of resources in defending the surrounding Donbas region, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, does not want to appear as though he is giving up on trying to retake lost territory. But U.S. officials say politics must, at least temporarily, take a back seat to sound military strategy. - But Ukraine has enough troops there to try to retake the area, a move that U.S. officials say would lead to large numbers of losses for little strategic gain. - Wet weather will not stop the fighting, but if Ukraine breaks through Russian lines in the coming weeks, the mud could make it more difficult to capitalize on that success and quickly seize a wide swath of territory, officials said. - More important than the weather, some analysts say, is that Ukraine’s main assault forces may run out of steam by mid- to late September. About a month ago, Ukraine rotated in a second wave of troops to replace an initial force that failed to break through Russian defenses. - In recent days, Ukraine has started tapping into its last strategic reserves — air mobile brigades intended to exploit any breakthrough. While fighting could continue for months, U.S. and other Western officials say Ukraine’s counteroffensive would not have enough decisive firepower to reclaim much of the 20 percent of the country that Russia occupies. - U.S. officials say they do not believe the counteroffensive is doomed to failure but acknowledge that the Ukrainians have not had the success that they or their allies hoped for when the push began. - By contrast, Ukrainian troops, in launching the counteroffensive, have the steeper hill to climb, the official said. It took them more than two months — rather than the week or so that officials initially thought — to get through the initial Russian defenses. - Speaking to reporters on a flight to Rome on Sunday, General Milley said the past two months of the counteroffensive have been “long, bloody and slow.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/us/politics/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-war.html Ukraine’s Forces and Firepower Are Misallocated, U.S. Officials Say By Eric Schmitt, Julian E. Barnes, Helene Cooper and Thomas Gibbons-Neff Eric Schmitt, Julian E. Barnes and Helene Cooper reported from Washington, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff from Kyiv, Ukraine. Aug. 22, 2023 Updated 3:47 p.m. ET Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive is struggling to break through entrenched Russian defenses in large part because it has too many troops, including some of its best combat units, in the wrong places, American and other Western officials say. The main goal of the counteroffensive is to cut off Russian supply lines in southern Ukraine by severing the so-called land bridge between Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. But instead of focusing on that, Ukrainian commanders have divided troops and firepower roughly equally between the east and the south, the U.S. officials said. As a result, more Ukrainian forces are near Bakhmut and other cities in the east than are near Melitopol and Berdiansk in the south, both far more strategically significant fronts, officials say. American planners have advised Ukraine to concentrate on the front driving toward Melitopol, Kyiv’s top priority, and on punching through Russian minefields and other defenses, even if the Ukrainians lose more soldiers and equipment in the process. Only with a change of tactics and a dramatic move can the tempo of the counteroffensive change, said one U.S. official, who like the other half a dozen Western officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Another U.S. official said the Ukrainians were too spread out and needed to consolidate their combat power in one place. Nearly three months into the counteroffensive, the Ukrainians may be taking the advice to heart, especially as casualties continue to mount and Russia still holds an edge in troops and equipment. In a video teleconference on Aug. 10, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; his British counterpart, Adm. Sir Tony Radakin; and Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the top U.S. commander in Europe, urged Ukraine’s most senior military commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, to focus on one main front. And, according to two officials briefed on the call, General Zaluzhnyi agreed. Admiral Radakin’s role has been especially important and not widely appreciated until now, the officials said. General Milley speaks to General Zaluzhnyi every week or so about strategy and Ukrainian military needs. But the Biden administration has prohibited senior U.S. officers from visiting Ukraine for security reasons and to avoid increasing tensions with Moscow. Britain, however, has imposed no such constraints, and Admiral Radakin, a polished officer who served three tours in Iraq, has developed close ties with his Ukrainian counterpart during multiple trips to the country. American officials say there are indications that Ukraine has started to shift some of its more seasoned combat forces from the east to the south. But even the most experienced units have been reconstituted a number of times after taking heavy casualties. These units rely on a shrinking cadre of senior commanders. Some platoons are mostly staffed by soldiers who have been wounded and returned to fight. Ukraine has penetrated at least one layer of Russian defenses in the south in recent days and is increasing the pressure, U.S. and Ukrainian officials said. It is close to taking control of Robotyne, a village in the south that is near the next line of Russian defenses. Taking the village, American officials said, would be a good sign. A spokesman for the Ukrainian military did not respond to text messages or phone calls on Tuesday. But some analysts say the progress may be too little too late. The fighting is taking place on mostly flat, unforgiving terrain, which favors the defenders. The Russians are battling from concealed positions that Ukrainian soldiers often see only when they are feet away. Hours after Ukrainians clear a field of mines, the Russians sometimes fire another rocket that disperses more of them at the same location. Under American war doctrine, there is always a main effort to ensure that maximum resources go to a single front, even if supporting forces are fighting in other areas to hedge against failure or spread-out enemy defenses. But Ukraine and Russia fight under old Soviet Communist doctrine, which seeks to minimize rivalries among factions of the army by providing equal amounts of manpower and equipment across commands. Both armies have failed to prioritize their most important objectives, officials say. Ukraine’s continued focus on Bakhmut, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the war, has perplexed U.S. intelligence and military officials. Ukraine has invested huge amounts of resources in defending the surrounding Donbas region, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, does not want to appear as though he is giving up on trying to retake lost territory. But U.S. officials say politics must, at least temporarily, take a back seat to sound military strategy. American strategists say that keeping a small force near the destroyed city is justified to pin down Russian troops and prevent them from using it as a base for attack. But Ukraine has enough troops there to try to retake the area, a move that U.S. officials say would lead to large numbers of losses for little strategic gain. American officials have told Ukrainian leaders that they can secure the land around Bakhmut with far fewer troops and should reallocate forces to targets in the south. Ukrainian leaders have defended their strategy and distribution of forces, saying they are fighting effectively in both the east and the south. The large number of troops is necessary to pressure Bakhmut and to defend against concerted Russian attacks in the country’s northeast, they say. Ukrainian commanders are competing for resources and have their own ideas of where they can succeed. American officials’ criticisms of Ukraine’s counteroffensive are often cast through the lens of a generation of military officers who have never experienced a war of this scale and intensity. Moreover, American war doctrine has never been tested in an environment like Ukraine’s, where Russian electronic warfare jams communications and GPS, and neither military has been able to achieve air superiority. American officials said Ukraine has another month to six weeks before rainy conditions force a pause in the counteroffensive. Already in August, Ukraine has postponed at least one offensive drive because of rain. “Terrain conditions are always fundamental drivers” of military operations, General Milley said in an interview with reporters on Sunday. “Fall and spring are not optimal for combined arms operations.” Wet weather will not stop the fighting, but if Ukraine breaks through Russian lines in the coming weeks, the mud could make it more difficult to capitalize on that success and quickly seize a wide swath of territory, officials said. More important than the weather, some analysts say, is that Ukraine’s main assault forces may run out of steam by mid- to late September. About a month ago, Ukraine rotated in a second wave of troops to replace an initial force that failed to break through Russian defenses. Ukraine also shifted its battlefield tactics then, returning to its old ways of wearing down Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles instead of plunging into minefields under fire. In recent days, Ukraine has started tapping into its last strategic reserves — air mobile brigades intended to exploit any breakthrough. While fighting could continue for months, U.S. and other Western officials say Ukraine’s counteroffensive would not have enough decisive firepower to reclaim much of the 20 percent of the country that Russia occupies. U.S. officials say they do not believe the counteroffensive is doomed to failure but acknowledge that the Ukrainians have not had the success that they or their allies hoped for when the push began. “We do not assess that the conflict is a stalemate,” Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, said on Tuesday. “We continue to support Ukraine in its effort to take territory as part of this counteroffensive, and we are seeing it continue to take territory on a methodical systematic basis.” While a smaller, dug-in Russian force has performed better in the south than American officials and analysts anticipated, the Kremlin still has systemic problems. Russian troops suffer from poor supply lines, low morale and bad logistics, a senior U.S. military official said. But Russia is keeping with its traditional way of fighting land wars in Europe: performing poorly in the opening months or years before adapting and persevering as the fighting drags on. By contrast, Ukrainian troops, in launching the counteroffensive, have the steeper hill to climb, the official said. It took them more than two months — rather than the week or so that officials initially thought — to get through the initial Russian defenses. Several U.S. officials said they expect Ukraine to make it about halfway to the Sea of Azov by winter, when cold weather may dictate another pause in the fighting. The senior U.S. official said that would be a “partial success.” Some analysts say the counteroffensive will fall short of even that more limited goal. Even if the counteroffensive fails to reach the coast, officials and analysts say if it can make it far enough to put the coastal road within range of Ukrainian artillery and other strikes, it could cause even more problems for Russian forces in the south who depend on that route for supplies. Speaking to reporters on a flight to Rome on Sunday, General Milley said the past two months of the counteroffensive have been “long, bloody and slow.” “It’s taken longer than Ukraine had planned,” he said. “But they are making limited progress.” Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting. Eric Schmitt is a senior writer who has traveled the world covering terrorism and national security. He was also the Pentagon correspondent. A member of the Times staff since 1983, he has shared four Pulitzer Prizes. More about Eric Schmitt Julian E. Barnes is a national security reporter based in Washington, covering the intelligence agencies. Before joining The Times in 2018, he wrote about security matters for The Wall Street Journal. More about Julian E. Barnes Helene Cooper is a Pentagon correspondent. She was previously an editor, diplomatic correspondent and White House correspondent, and was part of the team awarded the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, for its coverage of the Ebola epidemic. More about Helene Cooper Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a Ukraine correspondent and a former Marine infantryman. More about Thomas Gibbons-Neff
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Aug 23, 2023 04:22
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Frosted Flake posted:People hate reading this thread is genuinely frustrating to me because of that. You can't express mildly unenthusiastic opinions on a dead gay comedy forum without running risks, let alone actually submitting op-eds or whatever. Meanwhile, that RMC professor has written two op-eds about how there were really two sides to the Holocaust. Cognitive dissonance is painful. However why such a person keeps reading this thread I assume they get off on the pain & discomfort. Or they have too much free time and no other way to spend it.
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Aug 23, 2023 04:27
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Admittedly, at least it is okay now admit that Ukraine has been heavy losses and the offensive was suicidal…the Russians are still incompetent of course… Also, I see the whole “inaccurate anti ship missile thing” came back that one is an old timer.
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Aug 23, 2023 04:28
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What's the latest on the dam ecocide?
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Aug 23, 2023 04:31
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People are saying that Ukraine simply has to wait until next year and try again in another offensive, like an army is just a seasonal plant that regrows or an rpg power with a cooldown timer
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Aug 23, 2023 04:32
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Regarde Aduck posted:if we go by the ones that post on twitter or as unnamed sources for the NYT and WaPO, the west no longer has military experts. They all said Russia would collapse in the first month of the war and then gave up when that didn't happen. I mean I get the real reason, there are people that know exactly what's going on but these people are not allowed to speak. I guess they are just saving everything for a future book release. I kinda wonder what's going to happen if the war takes the median path and Ukrainian resistance collapses because it's fighting a war of attrition against a much bigger country. The worst scenario that gets openly contemplated in the press is a ceasefire. We've said a lot about Ukraine fighting the Endsieg over the terms of Minsk II, but many people in the West clearly thought the war was going to be democracy's big triumph over authoritarianism. The faction of the ruling class who are not thinking about the war as a cynical proxy conflict is who scare me.
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Aug 23, 2023 04:34
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tatankatonk posted:People are saying that Ukraine simply has to wait until next year and try again in another offensive, like an army is just a seasonal plant that regrows or an rpg power with a cooldown timer It makes sense from a perspective that the only possible result that can be conceived of is Ukraine winning. That's the only avenue that exists for Ukraine to win.. they have to have a chance to rebuild, and Russia has to be so beaten down to let them have the chance to do that.
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Aug 23, 2023 04:44
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sum posted:I kinda wonder what's going to happen if the war takes the median path and Ukrainian resistance collapses because it's fighting a war of attrition against a much bigger country. The worst scenario that gets openly contemplated in the press is a ceasefire. We've said a lot about Ukraine fighting the Endsieg over the terms of Minsk II, but many people in the West clearly thought the war was going to be democracy's big triumph over authoritarianism. The faction of the ruling class who are not thinking about the war as a cynical proxy conflict is who scare me. Ukraine only has to teeter on until the next USA election then they can just blame it all on the last guy and sweep it under the rug.
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Aug 23, 2023 04:45
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fizzy posted:
bad rear end
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Aug 23, 2023 05:15
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tatankatonk posted:People are saying that Ukraine simply has to wait until next year and try again in another offensive, like an army is just a seasonal plant that regrows or an rpg power with a cooldown timer When Biden said to the last Ukrianian, he meant it jack
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Aug 23, 2023 05:30
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Officer Sandvich posted:What's the latest on the dam ecocide? either russia did it and it is eccocide or ukraine did it and it was cool and good like in the avengers
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Aug 23, 2023 05:37
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Officer Sandvich posted:What's the latest on the dam ecocide? Stopped mattering ages ago, get with the times
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Aug 23, 2023 05:37
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sum posted:I kinda wonder what's going to happen if the war takes the median path and Ukrainian resistance collapses because it's fighting a war of attrition against a much bigger country. The worst scenario that gets openly contemplated in the press is a ceasefire. We've said a lot about Ukraine fighting the Endsieg over the terms of Minsk II, but many people in the West clearly thought the war was going to be democracy's big triumph over authoritarianism. The faction of the ruling class who are not thinking about the war as a cynical proxy conflict is who scare me. They really got high on their own supply that Biden winning meant anything
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Aug 23, 2023 05:38
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bedpan posted:keeping open air slave markets closed was an unjust and tyrannical infringement of the rights to property and the freedom of contract. Thanks to the Obama administration for looking out for entrepreneurs and disruptors People uuh say that I am uh, against free enterprise... folks, we are the worlds largest sponsor of slavery[applause], that was me folks, I did that.[loud cheers and applause] 😀
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Aug 23, 2023 05:39
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KomradeX posted:They really got high on their own supply that Biden winning meant anything This was their big chance to show Putler that these colors don't run.
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Aug 23, 2023 05:44
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Bad news for Ukraine - Western establishment media (Forbes) is continuing its pivot towards the West cutting its losses on Ukraine - When the powerful brigade finally rolled into action with some of its 14 British-made Challenger 2 tanks, 40 ex-German Marder tracked infantry fighting vehicles and 90 Stryker wheeled IFVs, it immediately began losing vehicles. - It’s unclear what struck the M1132s and whether the crews survived. It’s possible the vehicle were victims of the same mines their crews were trying to clear. It’s also possible they got caught in artillery barrages or were hunted down by drones. In any event, the 82nd already has lost 10 percent of its mineclearing Strykers. - Most military mineclearing vehicles are built on heavy, thickly-armored tank hulls—but not the M1132. U.S. firm General Dynamics Land Systems designed the Strkyer to be transportable by air. In other words, light. - There was just one way to keep the engineers alive and safeguard the mineclearing operation—and that was to target a spot along the fortified front line with minimal enemy manning. “When we set conditions for breaching out of contact, the sappers lived,” Thornton wrote. - That’s easier said than done, of course. It’s hard to stage scores of armored vehicles and hundreds of troops without the enemy noticing and shifting forces to meet the attackers. - The U.S. military might accomplish that by bombing the enemy line from the air just ahead of a breaching attempt. The Ukrainians with their meager air force don’t really have that option. - Here’s the good news. The United States has pledged 189 Strykers to Ukraine’s war effort—more than enough to replace the 82nd’s losses and equip additional brigades. And if those 189 Strykers run out, no problem: the U.S. Army has hundreds more Strykers in storage. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davida...sh=61807b37f366 Ukraine’s Powerful 82nd Brigade Has A Serious Weakness: Its Lightweight Mineclearing Vehicles David Axe Forbes Staff Aug 22, 2023,05:10pm EDT The Ukrainian air assault force’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade sat out the first nine weeks of Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive, which kicked off along several axes in southern and eastern Ukraine on June 4. When the powerful brigade finally rolled into action with some of its 14 British-made Challenger 2 tanks, 40 ex-German Marder tracked infantry fighting vehicles and 90 Stryker wheeled IFVs, it immediately began losing vehicles. This week, the 82nd wrote off at least two of its 20 or so M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicles—mineclearing versions of its 18-ton, eight-wheel Stryker infantry-carriers. The M1132 features a set of hull-mounted minerollers that can detonate buried mines before the vehicle triggers them. It’s unclear what struck the M1132s and whether the crews survived. It’s possible the vehicle were victims of the same mines their crews were trying to clear. It’s also possible they got caught in artillery barrages or were hunted down by drones. In any event, the 82nd already has lost 10 percent of its mineclearing Strykers. It was fairly obvious why Ukrainian commanders held back the 2,000-person 82nd Brigade. When the brigades leading the assault needed to pull back for rest and reset, the 82nd would be available to take their place. That moment came last week, when elements of the 82nd shifted into action around Robotyne, a key Russian strongpoint on the axis running through Tokmak to Melitopol, 50 miles from the front line in occupied southern Ukraine. The lead unit for the Robotyne assault, the Ukrainian army’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, by then had lost at least 25 of its 99 American-made M-2 tracked infantry fighting vehicles. The 82nd Brigade apparently joined the fight in order to bolster the flagging 47th. It should come as no surprise that the two M1132s are the 82nd’s first confirmed losses. The brigade likely is sending M1132s ahead of its main assault columns in order to clear lanes through Russian minefields around Robotyne. With safe paths through the mines, the 82nd’s Strykers, Marders and Challenger 2s can push deeper into Robotyne, or bypass and cut off the city’s Russian garrison. It’s vital but dangerous work, especially for the two crew and up to nine sappers who ride in the lightly-armored M1132. Most military mineclearing vehicles are built on heavy, thickly-armored tank hulls—but not the M1132. U.S. firm General Dynamics Land Systems designed the Strkyer to be transportable by air. In other words, light. That makes it vulnerable to mine blasts, artillery fragments, anti-tank missiles and even heavy machine guns. The same lightness also means the addition of a two-ton set of minerollers significantly burdens an M1132, especially cross-country. The M1132’s lightness compelled U.S. Army commanders to devise creative ways of deploying the vehicle. In the spring of 2004, Army captain Robert Thornton recalled his time leading a Stryker company, including attached M1132s, in realistic war games. The Engineer Squad Vehicle’s minerollers “greatly impact ESV mobility,” Thornton wrote in Armor, the Army’s official tank journal. Weighed down as they attempted to complete a breach through enemy defenses, the sappers were easy targets. There was just one way to keep the engineers alive and safeguard the mineclearing operation—and that was to target a spot along the fortified front line with minimal enemy manning. “When we set conditions for breaching out of contact, the sappers lived,” Thornton wrote. That’s easier said than done, of course. It’s hard to stage scores of armored vehicles and hundreds of troops without the enemy noticing and shifting forces to meet the attackers. The alternative to sneaking forward is to push the defenders away from their berms, trenches and bunkers just long enough for the sappers to do their explosive work. The U.S. military might accomplish that by bombing the enemy line from the air just ahead of a breaching attempt. The Ukrainians with their meager air force don’t really have that option. An accurate and intensive artillery barrage might suppress enemy troops long enough for the M1132s to clear a minefield. But Ukraine’s artillery batteries are busy targeting Russia’s artillery batteries. All that is to say, the 82nd Brigade probably is clearing minefields around Robotyne while under fire. And for the brigade’s lightweight engineering vehicles, that’s extremely dangerous. Here’s the good news. The United States has pledged 189 Strykers to Ukraine’s war effort—more than enough to replace the 82nd’s losses and equip additional brigades. And if those 189 Strykers run out, no problem: the U.S. Army has hundreds more Strykers in storage.
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Aug 23, 2023 05:44
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More coffins on the way, slava ukraini 
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Aug 23, 2023 05:48
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Slavvy posted:Stopped mattering ages ago, get with the times which would be strange if Russia did do it like everyone immediately said. ah well probably best to not think about. related: how’s that pipeline bombing investigation going?
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Aug 23, 2023 05:50
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fizzy posted:Here’s the good news. The United States has pledged 189 Strykers to Ukraine’s war effort—more than enough to replace the 82nd’s losses and equip additional brigades. And if those 189 Strykers run out, no problem: the U.S. Army has hundreds more Strykers in storage. Left unmentioned - What would have happened to the Ukranians driving those 189 replacement Strykers, and to the earlier batch of Strykers that those 189 Strykers had replaced. Especially since, earlier on this very article, the writer had written that: quote:It’s unclear what struck the M1132s and whether the crews survived. It’s possible the vehicle were victims of the same mines their crews were trying to clear. It’s also possible they got caught in artillery barrages or were hunted down by drones.
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Aug 23, 2023 05:54
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Listen man, sometimes dams and pipelines just blow up, its part of life, it happens.
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Aug 23, 2023 05:54
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Bad news for Ukraine - Nowadays, even the pep-talk articles published by Western establishment media come with all kinds of downer disclaimers and qualifying statements, some of which are extremely telling - “The training is of course too short,” said Marlow. But Ukraine needs the soldiers back in the fight as soon as possible. - “Two-thirds of the trainees who arrive here are reservists or civilians,” said Marlow. “In infantry training, there has been a 19-year-old and a 71-year-old. But these are exceptions.” - One of the Leopard 1 instructors said the Ukrainian tank trainees are mostly around 40. - Even though the Western weapons are obsolete - Despite the motivation of the Ukrainians, Marlow is realistic about the impact of the German tanks on the battlefields of Ukraine: “No weapons system alone will be decisive.” https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-military-course-germany-ukraine-russia-war-soldiers-training/ Inside the EU’s military crash course for Ukrainian troops BY PETER WILKE AUGUST 22, 2023 3:47 PM CET KLIETZ, Germany — Fifteen of 17 targets hit with the first shot. That’s the score for a Ukrainian crew on a Leopard 1A5 main battle tank on a training ground in Germany. They’re part of an international effort to train thousands of Ukrainian troops on Western weapons before they’re thrown back into battle against Russian invaders. “I am very impressed with what the Ukrainian comrades have shown here,” said German Lieutenant General Andreas Marlow, commander of the Special Training Command of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM UA). The four-man Ukrainian crew did miss two moving targets and a colleague of Marlow’s added that they need to work on their speed in the Leopard, a 42-ton behemoth that’s now helping equip the Ukrainian military. Berlin has authorized the export of as many as 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine, most from stocks held by Germany and Denmark. Kyiv is also due to receive a smaller number of more advanced Leopard 2s, M-1A1 Abrams tanks from the U.S. and Challenger 2s from the U.K. All of those systems are new to Ukrainians, who until now have used ex-Soviet tanks and armored personnel carriers. On a Thursday in mid-August, the EU’s training mission for Ukrainian soldiers was in full swing at a German forces training area in Klietz, two hours outside Berlin, one of two training hubs in Germany. Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were in their fifth week of learning to operate German war equipment, either the Leopard 1A5 or the Marder 1A3 infantry fighting vehicle. They were due home a week later. “The training is of course too short,” said Marlow. But Ukraine needs the soldiers back in the fight as soon as possible. They train 12 hours a day, six days a week, for six weeks at a stretch. First on simulators, then in real Leopard tanks armed with non-explosive practice ammunition. It’s an exhausting program. “We all know why we are doing this. It’s to help our Ukrainian friends restore the territorial integrity of their state against Russia’s unjustified aggression,” said the 60-year-old general, who served in Germany’s Bundeswehr in Kosovo and Afghanistan and as commander of a tank brigade. Since November 15, mostly inexperienced Ukrainians have been sent to Germany to train in 17 different programs to become combat-ready soldiers — learning skills ranging from engineering to being infantrymen to manning armored vehicles. “Two-thirds of the trainees who arrive here are reservists or civilians,” said Marlow. “In infantry training, there has been a 19-year-old and a 71-year-old. But these are exceptions.” One of the Leopard 1 instructors said the Ukrainian tank trainees are mostly around 40. Instructors must constantly adapt training to Ukraine’s needs. At the beginning of the mission, Ukraine asked for training in urban fighting, Marlow said. “Now that’s changing to also asking for combat training in wooded terrain, in developed field fortifications and in more open areas with overcoming mine barriers.” Those are the challenges now facing the Ukrainian military as its counteroffensive grinds against Russia’s trenches and minefields. Germany has trained 6,200 Ukrainian soldiers with the support of 12 European nations like the Netherlands and Denmark to date; the goal is to reach 10,000 by the end of the year. One of the soldiers is Yevhen from eastern Ukraine. Like other training participants, he has to cover his face when talking to journalists to conceal his identity. The father of a 6-year-old son didn’t want to talk about his feelings regarding the fighting he’ll soon be facing. Yevhen was an electrician but was mobilized after Russia’s invasion. In Ukraine, the 32-year-old was trained on the Soviet T-64 tank for a “short time,“ he said; then the Ukrainian army sent him to Germany for Leopard 1 training. “The mood among us is great. We want to liberate our country and secure our future,” said Yevhen, adding that the Leopard training would help with that. The Leopard 1 was decommissioned by the German army in 2003, which means that old Leopard 1 tanks first had to be procured and upgraded for the training mission. Even though the Western weapons are obsolete, they’re still better than the Soviet gear that the Ukrainians are used to. “The Marder is like a BMW, while the Russian armored vehicle is like an ancient Volga [Soviet car model],” joked one of his Ukrainian comrades training on the Marder 1A3. Despite the motivation of the Ukrainians, Marlow is realistic about the impact of the German tanks on the battlefields of Ukraine: “No weapons system alone will be decisive.” The mandate of the EUMAM mission runs until November 15, 2024, by which time 30,000 Ukrainians should have been trained in Germany and Poland, where other European nations are conducting more training. But Marlow is certain he’ll still be training Ukrainian soldiers after that. “Unfortunately, it appears that this war of aggression will continue. To that extent, I expect that we will have to continue to provide this training for a long time.”
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Aug 23, 2023 06:00
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Punished Turtle posted:bad rear end Ukraine perfected the daylight rush over the minefield stratagem.
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Aug 23, 2023 06:06
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In case nobody else has noticed, fizzy is highlighting the feedback sandwich being used for the Ukraine articles. The public is being massaged for the eventual "we need to pursue seperate endeavours moving forwards" after a suitable employee review period has elapsed.
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Aug 23, 2023 06:20
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Best Friends posted:which would be strange if Russia did do it like everyone immediately said. ah well probably best to not think about. All evidence points to the shadowy orginization only know as основа being behind it
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Aug 23, 2023 06:29
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lol before the weapon systems arrived they were absolutely touted as decisive the Leopard 2 getting wrecked in a war white people care about was just as drama causing as i thought it'd be  now where that challanger 2 at 
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Aug 23, 2023 06:30
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fizzy posted:But Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar brushed aside any suggestion that Kyiv’s progress was too slow, and said Ukraine had effectively defied military doctrine by attacking an enemy that has a numerical advantage in manpower and weaponry. you know who else launched offensives against enemies with numerical advantages in manpower and weaponry?
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Aug 23, 2023 06:31
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gradenko_2000 posted:you know who else launched offensives against enemies with numerical advantages in manpower and weaponry? The rebel alliance, which is the only history the failkids in DC know.
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Aug 23, 2023 06:37
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Regarde Aduck posted:lol before the weapon systems arrived they were absolutely touted as decisive Ukraine said that the 82nd has been hit by "5 airstrikes a day" and so they've banned journalists from being at the front or whatever
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Aug 23, 2023 06:42
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Frosted Flake posted:The spate of tweets in the past two days "We're not military experts, who's to say things aren't going well? We should be optimistic until events play out." is delusional. Also they were definitely military experts just a few days ago.
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Aug 23, 2023 06:45
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CODChimera posted:Ukraine said that the 82nd has been hit by "5 airstrikes a day" and so they've banned journalists from being at the front or whatever We can't let them near all those alive men and intact tanks to report on how well they're doing. But it's very well indeed, thank you for asking.
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Aug 23, 2023 06:48
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Swedish state media has an article with a video of an "expert" from our military academy where he implies Iran sponsored/created the jihadists in Afghanistan
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Aug 23, 2023 06:48
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Frosted Flake posted:Beyond the obvious stuff about Full Spectrum Dominance and Network-Centric Warfare, I think that if you really examined root causes there are a couple things, and we can chart them based on the books that have come out in the past ten years or so for very small professional audiences. These are the belief that the US can achieve decisive, strategic results against peer opponents through: So basically Washington has convinced themselves they have invented new ways to win war, and it's much cheaper! Just based on the past successful case of pulling of color revolution in Ukraine. That financial warfare tactics wasn't even that successful against Iran in the real world test. Just beautiful.
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Aug 23, 2023 06:52
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The great thing about information warfare is it's your spreadsheet. Report anything you like! Great success, thanks for the promotions.
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Aug 23, 2023 06:55
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the strange slow trickle of western equipment into Ukraine has always seemed to me to be an obscene cruelty. I don’t think the Us should be involved but that’s what the policy makers wanted and now they are loving it up, probably because they never thought Ukraine would ever win; which is why it is an obscene cruelty. the my just want to string Ukraine along as long as possible. the best plan the west had after working on this poo poo since 2014 was to just absolutely mangle hundreds of thousands of its own supposed Ally’s people? presumably to wear down Russia and deny Russia hundreds of thousands of people if it takes Ukraine. edit: along this same line of thinking, I think the shell production issue is not getting solved because nobody expects Ukraine to be around long enough for it to matter. Torpor has issued a correction as of 07:03 on Aug 23, 2023 |
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Aug 23, 2023 06:55
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